THE KORAN

(This is the traditional order of the Koran. For Rodwell's re-ordering, see:)

Sura 26 - THE POETS¹

MECCA - 228 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Ta. Sin. Mim.² These are the signs of the lucid Book.

Haply thou wearest thyself away with grief because they will not believe.

Were it our will we could send down to them a sign from Heaven, before which they would humbly bow.³

But from each fresh warning that cometh to them from the God of Mercy they have only turned aside,

And treated it as a lie: But tidings shall reach them which they shall not laugh to scorn.

Have they not beheld the earth — how we have caused every kind of noble plant to spring up therein?

Verily, in this is a sign: but most of them believe not.
And assuredly, thy Lord!— He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
And remember when thy Lord called to Moses, ‘Go to the wicked people,
The people of Pharaoh. What! will they not fear me?’
He said, ‘My Lord, in sooth I fear lest they treat me as a Iiar:

And my breast is straitened, and I am slow of speech:⁴ send therefore to Aaron to be my helpmate.

For they have a charge⁵ against me, and I fear lest they put me to death.’
He said, ‘Surely not. Go ye therefore with our signs: we will be with you and will hearken.
And go to Pharaoh and say: “Verily we are the messengers of the Lord of the Worlds —
Send forth with us the children of Israel.”’

He said, ‘Did we not rear thee among us when a child? And hast thou not passed years of thy life among us?

And yet what a deed is that which thou hast done!⁶ Thou art one of the ungrateful.’

He said, ‘I did it indeed, and I was one of those who erred:

And I fled from you because I feared you; but my Lord hath given me wisdom and hath made me one of his Apostles.

And is this the favor thou hast conferred on me, that thou hast enslaved the children of Israel?’

Said Pharaoh, ‘Who then is the Lord of the Worlds?’

He said, ‘The Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that is between them, if only ye believe it.’

Said Pharaoh to those around him, ‘Hear ye this?’
‘Your Lord,’ said Moses, ‘and the Lord of your sires of old.’
‘In sooth, your Apostle whom He hath sent to you,’ said Pharaoh, ‘is certainly possessed.’

He said, ‘Lord is He of the East and of the West, and of all that is between them, if ye can understand.’

He said, ‘If ye take any God beside me, I will surely put thee in ward.’
Said Moses, ‘What! if I show thee that which shall be a proof of my mission?’
He said, ‘Forth with it then, if thou speakest truth.’
Then threw he down his staff, and lo! an undoubted serpent:
And he drew out his hand, and lo! it was white⁷ to the beholders.
He said to his nobles around him, ‘This truly is a right cunning sorcerer:
Fain would he drive you out of your land by his Sorcery. But what do ye suggest?’
They said, ‘Put him and his brother off awhile, and send summoners to all the cities,
Who shall bring to thee every cunning magician.’
So the magicians were mustered at a set time, on a solemn day:
And it was said to the people, ‘Are ye all assembled?’
— ‘Yes! and we will follow the magicians if they gain the day.’

And when the magicians were arrived they said to Pharaoh, ‘Shall we have a reward if we gain the day?’

He said, ‘Yes. And verily in that case ye shall be of those who are near my person.’
Moses said to them, ‘Throw down what ye have to throw.’
So they cast down their ropes and rods, and said, ‘By Pharaoh’s might we shall surely win.’
Then Moses threw down his rod, and lo! it swallowed up their cheating wonders.
Then the magicians threw themselves down in worship:
They said, ‘We believe on the Lord of the Worlds,
The Lord of Moses and of Aaron.’

Said Pharaoh, ‘Have ye then believed on him ere I gave you leave? He truly is your master who hath taught you magic.⁸ But bye and bye ye shall surely know my power.

I will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will have you all crucified.’
They said, ‘It cannot harm us, for to our Lord shall we return:
Assuredly we trust that our Lord will forgive us our sins, since we are of the first who believe.’

Then revealed we this order to Moses: ‘Go forth by night with my servants, for ye will be pursued.’

And Pharaoh sent summoners through the cities:—
‘These Israelites,’ said they, ‘are a scanty band;
Yet are they enraged against us —
But we truly are numerous, wary.’
Thus we caused them to quit gardens and fountains,
And treasures and splendid dwellings;
So was it; and we gave them to the children of Israel for an heritage.⁹
Then at sunrise the Egyptians followed them:

And when the hosts came in view of one another, the comrades of Moses said, ‘We are surely overtaken.’

He said, ‘By no means:— for my Lord is with me — He will guide me.’

And we revealed this order to Moses, ‘Strike the sea with thy rod.’ And it clave asunder, and each part became like a huge mountain.

Then made we the others to draw on;
And we saved Moses, and those who were with him, all;
But we drowned the others.
Truly in this was a sign; but most of them did not believe.
But verily thy Lord,— He is the Mighty, the Merciful!
And recite to them the story of Abraham
When he said to his Father and to his people, ‘What worship ye?’
They said, ‘We worship idols, and constant is our devotion to them.’
He said, ‘Can they hear you when ye cry to them?
Or help you or do you harm?’
They said, ‘But we found our Fathers do the like.’
He said, ‘How think ye? They whom ye worship,
Ye and your fathers of early days,
Are my foes: but not so¹⁰ the Lord of the Worlds,
Who hath created me, and guideth me,
Who giveth me food and drink;
And when I am sick, he healeth me,
And who will cause me to die and again quicken me,
And who, I hope, will forgive me my sins in the day of reckoning.
My Lord! bestow on me wisdom and join me to the just,
And give me a good name¹¹ among posterity,
And make me one of the heirs of the garden of delight,
And forgive my father, for he was one of the erring,
And put me not to shame on the day when mankind shall be raised up,
The day when neither wealth nor children shall avail,
Save to him who shall come to God with a sound heart:
When Paradise shall be brought near the pious,
And Hell shall lay open for those who have gone astray.
And it shall be said to them, “Where are they whom ye worshipped
Beside God? Can they harm you or help themselves?”
And they shall be cast into it — the seducers and the seduced,
And all the host of Eblis.
They shall say, as they wrangle therein together,
“By God, we were in a plain error,
When we equalled you with the Lord of the Worlds:
And none misled us but the wicked,
And we have none to plead for us,
Nor friend who careth for us.
Could we but return, we would be of the believers.”’
Verily, in this was a sign: but most of them believed not.
And truly thy Lord! — He is the Mighty, the Merciful!
The people of Noah gainsaid the Apostles,
When their brother Noah said to them, ‘Will ye not fear God?
Of a truth am I your faithful Apostle;
Fear God then and obey me.
I ask of you no reward for this, for my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone:
Fear God then and obey me.’
They said, ‘Shall we believe on thee when the meanest only are thy followers?’
He said, ‘But I have no knowledge of that they did:¹²
To my Lord only must their account be given: would that ye understood this!
And I will not thrust away those who believe,
For I am only one charged with plain warnings.’
They said, ‘Now unless thou desist, O Noah, one of the stoned shalt thou surely be.’
He said, ‘Lord! my people treat me as a liar:

Decide thou therefore a decision between me and them, and rescue me and the faithful who are with me.’

So we saved him and those who were with him in the fully-laden ark,
And afterwards we drowned the rest.
Herein truly was a sign, but most of them believed not.
But thy Lord! — He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
The Adites¹³ treated their Apostles as liars,
When their brother Houd said to them, ‘Will ye not fear God?
I am your Apostle, worthy of all credit;
Fear God then and obey me:
I ask for no reward for this; for my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.
What! build ye landmarks on all heights in mere pastime?
And raise ye structures to be your lasting abodes?¹⁴
And when ye put forth your power do ye put it forth with harshness?
Fear ye God then and obey me;
And fear ye Him who hath plenteously bestowed on you ye well know what:
Plenteously bestowed on you flocks and children,
And gardens and fountains;
Indeed I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous day.’
They said, ‘It is the same to us whether thou warn or warn us not.
This is but a tale of the ancients,
And we are not they who shall be punished.’

And they charged him with imposture; and we destroyed them. In this was a sign: but most of them believed not.

But thy Lord! — He is the Mighty, the Merciful!
The Themoudites also treated their Apostles as liars,
When their brother Saleh said to them, ‘Will ye not fear God?
I am your Apostle worthy of all credit:
Fear God, then, and obey me.
I ask of you no reward for this: my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.
Shall ye be left secure amid these things here?
Amid gardens and fountains,
And corn-fields and palm-trees, with flower-sheathing branches?
And, insolent that ye are, will ye hew out your dwellings in the mountains?
But fear God and obey me,
And obey not the bidding of those who commit excess,
Who act disorderly on the earth and reform it not.’
They said, ‘Certainly thou art a person bewitched;
Thou art only a man like us: produce now a sign if thou art a man of truth.’

He said, ‘This she-camel, then — drink shall there be for her, and drink shall there be for you, on a several day for each.

But harm her not, lest the punishment of a tremendous day overtake you.’
But they ham-strung her, and repented of it on the morrow;
For the punishment overtook them. In this truly was a sign, but most of them believed not.
But thy Lord! — He is the Powerful, the Merciful!
The people of Lot treated their apostles as liars,
When their brother Lot said to them, ‘Will ye not fear God?
I am your Apostle worthy of all credit:
Fear God, then, and obey me.
For this I ask you no reward: my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.
What! with men, of all creatures, will ye have commerce?
And leave ye your wives whom your Lord hath created for you? Ah! ye are an erring people!’
They said, ‘O Lot, if thou desist not, one of the banished shalt thou surely be.’
He said, ‘I utterly abhor your doings:
My Lord! deliver me and my family from what they do.’
So we delivered him and his whole family —
Save an aged one among those who tarried —
Then we destroyed the rest —
And we rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those whom we had warned.
In this truly was a sign; but most of them did not believe.
But thy Lord! He is the Powerful, the Merciful!
The dwellers in the forest of Madian¹⁵ treated the Apostles as liars.
When Shoaib their brother said to them, ‘Will ye not fear God?
I truly am your trustworthy Apostle.
Fear God, then, and obey me:
No reward ask I of you for this: my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.
Fill the measure, and be not of those who minish:
Weigh with exact balance:
And defraud not men in their substance, and do no wrong on the earth by deeds of licence;
And fear Him who made you and the races of old.’
They said, ‘Certainly thou art a person bewitched.
Thou art but a man like us, and we deem thee liar —
Make now a part of the heaven to fall down upon us, if thou art a man of truth.’
He said, ‘My Lord best knoweth your doings.’

And when they treated him as a liar, the chastisement of the day of cloud overtook them. This truly was the chastisement of a dreadful day!

In this was a sign, but most of them believed not.
But thy Lord! — He is the Mighty, the Merciful!
Verily from the Lord of the Worlds hath this Book come down;
The faithful spirit¹⁶ hath come down with it
Upon thy heart, that thou mightest become a warner —
In the clear Arabic tongue:
And truly it is foretold in the Scriptures of them of yore.¹⁷
Was it not a sign to them¹⁸ that the learned among the children of Israel recognized it?
If we had sent it down unto any foreigner,
And he had recited it to them, they had not believed.
In such sort have we influenced¹⁹ the heart of the wicked ones,
That they will not believe it till they see the grievous chastisement?
And it shall come upon them on a sudden when they look not for it:
And they will say, ‘Can we be respited?’
What! will they seek to hasten on our chastisement?
How thinkest thou? If after we have given them their fill for years,
That with which they are menaced come upon them at last,
Of what avail will their enjoyments be to them?
We never destroyed a city which had not first its warners
With admonition; nor did we deal unjustly.
The Satans were not sent down with this Koran:
It beseemed them not, and they had not the power,
For they are far removed from hearing it.²⁰
Call not thou on any other god but God, lest thou be of those consigned to torment:
But warn thy relatives of nearer kin,²¹
And kindly lower thy wing over the faithful who follow thee.
And if they disobey thee, then say: ‘I will not be answerable for your doings;’—
And put thy trust in Him that is the Mighty, the Merciful,
Who seeth thee when thou standest in prayer,
And thy demeanor amongst those who worship;
For He heareth, knoweth all.
Shall I tell you on whom Satan descend?
They descend on every lying, wicked person:
They impart what they have heard;²²— but most of them are liars.
It is the POETS²³ whom the erring follow:
Seest thou not how they rove distraught in every valley?
And that they say that which they do not?
Save those who believe and do good works, and oft remember God;

And who defend themselves when unjustly treated. But they who treat them unjustly shall find out what a lot awaiteth them.

Sura 27 - THE ANT

MECCA - 95 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Ta. Sad.¹ These are the signs (verses) of the Koran and of the lucid Book;

Guidance and glad tidings to the believers who observe prayer and pay the stated alms, and believe firmly — do they — in the life to come.

As to those who believe not in the life to come, we have made their own doings fair seeming to them, and they are bewildered therein.

These are they whom the woe of chastisement awaiteth; and in the next life they shall suffer — yes shall they — greatest loss;

But thou hast certainly received the Koran from the Wise, the Knowing.

Bear in mind when Moses said to his family, ‘I have perceived a fire;

I will bring you tidings from it, or will bring you a blazing brand, that ye may warm you.’

And when he came to it, he was called to, ‘Blessed, He who is in the fire, and He who is about it; and glory be to God, the Lord of the Worlds!

O Moses! verily, I am God, the Mighty, the Wise!

Throw down now thy staff.’ And when he saw that it moved itself as though it were a serpent, he retreated backward and returned not. ‘O Moses, fear not; for the Sent Ones fear not in my presence,

Save he who having done amiss shall afterwards exchange the evil for good; for I am Forgiving, Merciful.

Put now thy hand into thy bosom: it shall come forth white, yet free from hurt:² one of nine signs to Pharaoh and his people; for a perverse people are they.’

And when our signs were wrought in their very sight,³ they said, ‘This is plain magic.’

And though in their souls they knew them to be true, yet in their wickedness and pride they denied them. But see what was the end of the corrupt doers!

And of old we gave knowledge to David and Solomon: and they said, ‘Praise be to God, who hath made us to excel many of his believing servants!’

And in knowledge Solomon was David’s heir. And he said, ‘O men, we have been taught the speech of birds,⁴ and are endued with everything. This is indeed a clear boon from God.’

And to Solomon were gathered his hosts of Djinn⁵ and men and birds, and they were marched on in bands,

Till they reached the Valley of Ants. Said AN ANT, ‘O ye ants, enter your dwellings, lest Solomon and his army crush you and know it not.’

Then smiled Solomon, laughing at her words, and he said, ‘Stir me up, O Lord, to be thankful for thy favor which thou hast showed upon me and upon my parents, and to do righteousness that shall be well pleasing to thee, and bring me in, by thy mercy, among thy servants the righteous.’

And he reviewed the birds, and said, ‘How is it that I see not the lapwing? Is it one of the absent?

Surely, with a severe chastisement will I chastise it, or I will certainly slaughter it, unless it bring me a clear excuse.’

Nor tarried it long ere it came and said, ‘I have gained the knowledge that thou knowest not, and with sure tidings have I come to thee from Saba:

I found a woman reigning over them, gifted with everything, and she hath a splendid throne;

And I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of God; and Satan hath made their works fair seeming to them, so that he hath turned them from the Way: wherefore they are not guided,

To the worship of God, who bringeth to light the secret things of heaven and earth, and knoweth what men conceal and what they manifest:

God! there is no god but He! the lord of the glorious throne!’

He said, ‘We shall see whether thou hast spoken truth, or whether thou art of them that lie.

Go with this my letter and throw it down to them: then turn away from them and await their answer.’

She said, ‘O my nobles! an honorable letter hath been thrown down to me:

It is from Solomon; and it is this: “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!

Set not yourselves against me, but come to me submitting (Muslims).”’

She said, ‘O my nobles, advise me in mine affair: I decide it not without your concurrence.’⁶

They said, ‘We are endued with strength and are endued with mighty valor. — But to command is thine: See therefore what thou wilt command us.’

She said, ‘Kings when they enter a city spoil it, and abase the mightiest of its people: and in like manner will these also do.

But I will send to them with a gift, and await what my envoys bring back.’

And when the messenger came to Solomon, he said, ‘Aid ye me with riches? But what God hath given to me is better than what he hath given you: yet ye glory in your gifts:

Return to them: for we will surely come to them with forces which they cannot withstand, and we will drive them from their land humbled and contemptible.’

Said he, ‘O nobles, which of you will bring me her throne before they come to me, submitting? (Muslims).’

An Efreet⁷ of the Djinn said: ‘I will bring it thee ere thou risest from thy place: I have power for this and am trusty.’

And one who had the knowledge of Scripture said, ‘I will bring it to thee in the twinkling of an eye.’⁸ And when he saw it set before him, he said, ‘This is of the favor of my Lord, to try me whether I will be thankful or unthankful. And he who is thankful is thankful to his own behoof; and as for him who is unthankful — truly my Lord is self-sufficient, bounteous!’

Said he, ‘Make her throne so that she know it not: we shall see whether she hath or hath not guidance.’

And when she came he said, ‘Is thy throne like this?’ She said, ‘As though it were the same.’ ‘And we,’ said he, ‘have had knowledge given us before her, and have been Muslims.’

But the gods she had worshipped instead of God had led her astray: for she was of a people who believe not.

It was said to her, ‘Enter the Palace:’ and when she saw it, she thought it a lake of water, and bared her legs. He said, ‘It is a palace paved with glass.’

She said, ‘O my Lord! I have sinned against my own soul, and I resign myself, with Solomon, to God the Lord of the Worlds.’

And of old we sent to Themoud their brother Saleh, with ‘Serve ye God:’ but lo! they became two sets of disputants wrangling with each other.

He said, ‘O my people, why, if ye ask not pardon of God that ye may find mercy, hasten ye on evil rather than good?’

They said, ‘We augur⁹ ill concerning thee and those who are with thee.’ He said, ‘The ills of which ye augur¹⁰ depend on God. But ye are a people on your trial.’

And there were in the city nine persons who committed excesses in the land and did not that which is right.

They said, ‘Swear ye to one another by God that we will surely fall on him and on his family by night: then will we say to the avenger of blood, we witnessed not the destruction of his family: and verily we speak the truth.’

And they devised a device, and we devised a device, and they were not aware of it —

And see what was the end of their device! We destroyed them and their whole people:

And for their sin these their houses are empty ruins: Verily in this is a sign to those who understand;

And we delivered those who believed and feared.

And Lot, when he said to his people, ‘What! proceed ye to such filthiness with your eyes open?

What! come ye with lust unto men rather than to women? Surely ye are an ignorant people.’

And the answer of his people was but to say, ‘Cast out the family of Lot from your city: they, forsooth, are men of purity!’

So we rescued him and his family: but as for his wife, we decreed her to be of them that lingered:

And we rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those who had had their warning.

SAY: Praise be to God and peace be on His servants whom He hath chosen! Is God the more worthy or the gods they join with Him?

Is not He who hath made the Heavens and the Earth, and hath sent down rain to you from Heaven, by which we cause the luxuriant groves to spring up? It is not in your power to cause its trees to spring up! What! A god with God? Yet they find equals for Him!

Is not He, who hath set the earth so firm, and hath made rivers in its midst, and hath placed mountains upon it, and put a barrier between the two seas?¹¹ What! a god with God? Yet the greater part of them have no knowledge!

Is not He the more worthy who answereth the oppressed when they cry to him, and taketh off their ills, and maketh you to succeed your sires on the earth? What! a god with God? How few bear these things in mind!

Is not He, who guideth you in the darkness of the land and of the sea, and who sendeth forth the winds as the forerunners of His mercy? What! a god with God? Far from God be what ye join with Him!

Is not He, who created a Being, then reneweth it, and who supplieth you out of the Heaven and the Earth? What! a god with God? SAY: Bring forth your proofs if you speak the truth.

SAY: None either in the Heavens or in the Earth knoweth the unseen but God. And they know not

When they shall be raised.

— Yet they have attained to a knowledge of the life to come:¹²— yet are they in doubt about it:— yet are they blind about it!

And the unbelievers say: ‘When we and our fathers have been dead shall we be taken forth?

Of old have we been promised this, we and our sires of old: it is but fables of the ancients.’

SAY: Go ye through the land, and see what hath been the end of the wicked.

And grieve not thou for them, nor be in distress at their devisings.

And they say, ‘When will this promise be made good, if ye speak true?’

SAY: Haply a part of what ye desire to be hastened may be close behind you.

And truly thy Lord is full of goodness towards men: But most of them are not thankful.

And thy Lord knoweth well what their breasts enshroud, and what they bring to light,

And there is no secret thing in the Heaven or on the Earth, but it is in the clear Book.

Truly this Koran declareth to the children of Israel most things wherein they disagree:

And it is certainly guidance and a mercy to the faithful.

Verily, by his wisdom will thy Lord decide between them: for He is the Mighty, the Knowing.

Put thou then thy trust in God: for thou hast clear truth on thy side.¹³

Thou shalt not make the dead to hear; neither shalt thou make the deaf to hear the call, when they turn away backward;

Neither art thou the guide of the blind out of their errors: none truly shalt thou make to hear but those who believe our signs: and they are Muslims.

When the doom shall be ready to light upon them, we will cause a monster¹⁴ to come forth to them out of the earth, and cry to them, ‘Verily men have not firmly believed our signs.’

And on that day shall be gathered out of every nation a company of those who have gainsaid our signs, in separate bands;

Till they come before God, who will say, ‘Treated ye my signs as impostures, although ye embraced them not in your knowledge? or what is it that ye were doing?

And doom shall light upon them for their evil deeds, and nought shall they have to plead.

See they not that we have ordained the night that they may rest in it, and the day with its gift of light? Of a truth herein are signs to people who believe.

On that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all that are in the heavens, and all that are on the earth shall be terrorstricken, save him whom God pleaseth to deliver; and all shall come to him in humble guise.

And thou shalt see the mountains, which thou thinkest so firm, pass away with the passing of a cloud! ‘Tis the work of God, who ordereth all things! of all that ye do is He well aware.

To him who shall present himself with good works, shall be a reward beyond their desert,¹⁵ and they shall be secure from the terror on that day;

And they who shall present themselves with evil shall be flung downward on their faces into the fire. Shall ye be rewarded but as ye have wrought?

SAY: Specially am I commanded to worship the Lord of this land, which He hath sanctified. All things are His: and I am commanded to be one of those who surrender them to God (a Muslim)

And to recite the Koran: and whoever is rightly guided, assuredly will be rightly guided to his own behoof.

And as to him who erreth, SAY, I truly am a warner only. And SAY, Praise be to God! He will show you His signs, and ye shall acknowledge them: and of what ye do, thy Lord is not regardless.

Sura 28 - THE STORY

MECCA - 88 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Ta. Sin. Mim.¹ These are the signs of the lucid Book.

We will recite to thee portions of the History of Moses and Pharaoh with truth, for the teaching of the faithful.

Now Pharaoh lifted himself up in the earth, and divided his people into parties: one portion of them he brought low — He slew their male children, and let their females only live; for he was one of those who wrought disorders.

And we were minded to show favor to those who were brought low in the land, and to make them spiritual chiefs,² and to make them Pharaoh’s heirs,

And to stablish them in the land;³ and to make Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts, the eye-witnesses of what they dreaded from them.

And we said by revelation to the mother of Moses, ‘Give him suck; and if thou fearest for him, launch him on the sea; and fear not, neither fret; for we will restore him to thee, and make him one of the apostles.’

And Pharaoh’s family took him up to be a foe, and a sorrow to them, for sinners were Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts!

And Pharaoh’s wife said, ‘Joy of the eye⁴ to me and thee! put him not to death: haply he will be useful to us, or we may adopt him as a son.’ But they knew not what they did.

And the heart of Moses’ mother became a blank through fear: and almost had she discovered him, but that we girt up her heart with constancy, in order that she might be one of those who believe.

She said to his sister, ‘Follow him.’ And she watched him from afar: and they perceived it not.

And we caused him to refuse the nurses,⁵ until his sister came and said, Shall I point out to you the family of a house that will rear him for you, and will be careful of him?

So we restored him to his mother, to be the joy of her eyes, and that she might not fret, and that she might know that the promise of God was true. But most men knew it not.

And when he had reached his age of strength, and had become a man, we bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge; for thus do we reward the righteous.

And he entered a city at the time when its inhabitants would not observe him,⁶ and found therein two men fighting: the one, of his own people; the other, of his enemies. And he who was of his own people asked his help against him who was of his enemies. And Moses smote him with his fist and slew him. Said he, ‘This is a work of Satan; for he is an enemy, a manifest misleader.’

He said, ‘O my Lord, I have sinned to mine own hurt:⁷ forgive me.’ So God forgave him; for He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

He said, ‘Lord, because thou hast showed me this grace, I will never again be the helper of the wicked.’

And in the city at noon he was full of fear, casting furtive glances round him: and lo! the man whom he had helped the day before, cried out to him again for help. Said Moses to him, ‘Thou are plainly a most depraved person.’

And when he would have laid violent hands on him who was their common foe, he said to him, ‘O Moses, dost thou desire to slay me, as thou slayedst a man yesterday? Thou desirest only to become a tyrant in this land, and desirest not to become a peacemaker.’

But a man came running up from the city’s end. He said, ‘O Moses, of a truth, the nobles consult to slay thee — Begone then — I counsel thee as a friend.’

So forth he went from it in fear, looking warily about him. He said, ‘O Lord, deliver me from the unjust people.’

And when he was journeying towards Madian, he said, ‘Haply my Lord will direct me in an even path.’

And when he arrived at the water of Madian, he found at it a company of men watering.

And he found beside them, two women⁸ keeping back their flock: ‘Why do ye,’ said he, ‘thus?’ They said, ‘We shall not water till the shepherds shall have driven off; for our father is very aged.’

So he watered for them — then retired to the shade and said, ‘O my Lord, of the good thou hast caused me to meet with I stand in need.’⁹

And one of them came to him, walking bashfully. Said she, ‘My father calleth thee, that he may pay thee wages for thy watering for us.’ And when he came to him and had told him his STORY, ‘Fear not,’ said he, ‘thou hast escaped from an unjust people.’

One of them said, ‘O my father, hire him: for the best thou canst hire is the strong, the trusty.’

He said, ‘Truly to one of these my two daughters I desire to marry thee, if for eight years thou wilt be my hired servant:¹⁰ and if thou fulfil ten, it shall be of thine own accord, for I wish not to deal hardly with thee. Thou wilt find me, if God will, one of the upright.’

He said, ‘Be it so between me and thee: Whichever of the two terms I fulfill, there will be no injustice to me. And God is witness of what we say.’

And when Moses had fulfilled the term, and was journeying with his family, he perceived a fire on the mountainside. He said to his family, ‘Wait ye, for I perceive a fire. Haply I may bring you tidings from it, or a brand from the fire to warm you.’

And when he came up to it, a Voice cried to him¹¹ out of the bush from the right side of the valley in the sacred hollow, ‘O Moses, I truly am God, the Lord of the Worlds:

Throw down now thy rod.’ And when he saw it move as though it were a serpent, he retreated and fled and returned not. ‘O Moses,’ cried the Voice, ‘draw near and fear not, for thou art in safety.

Put thy hand into thy bosom; it shall come forth white, but unharmed: and draw back thy hand¹² to thee without fear. These shall be two signs from thy Lord to Pharaoh and his nobles; for they are a perverse people.’

He said, ‘O my Lord! truly I have slain one of them, therefore fear I lest they slay me.

My brother Aaron is clearer of speech than I. Send him, therefore, with me as a help, and to make good my cause, for I fear lest they treat me as an impostor.’

He said, ‘We will strengthen thine arm with thy brother, and we will give power unto you both, and they shall not equal you in our signs. Ye twain and they who shall follow you, shall gain the day.’

And when Moses came to him with our demonstrative signs they said, ‘This is nought but magical device. We never heard the like among our sires of old.’

And Moses said, ‘My Lord best knoweth on whom He hath bestowed His guidance, and whose shall be the recompense of the abode of Paradise. Verily, the wicked shall not prosper.’

And Pharaoh said, ‘O ye nobles, ye have no other God that I know of but myself. Burn me then, Haman, bricks of clay,¹³ and build me a tower that I may mount up to the God of Moses, for in sooth, I deem him a liar.’

And he and his hosts behaved themselves proudly and unjustly on the earth, and thought that they should never be brought back to us.

But we seized on him and his hosts and cast them into the sea: Behold, then, the end of the wrongful doers:

And we made them Imams who invite to the fire of hell, and on the day of Resurrection they shall not be helped.

We followed them with a curse in this world, and covered shall they be with shame on the day of Resurrection.

And after we had destroyed the former generations, we gave the book of the Law to Moses for man’s enlightening, and a guidance and a mercy, that haply they might reflect.

And thou wast not on the western slope of Sinai when we laid his charge on Moses, nor wast thou one of the witnesses;

But we raised up generations after Moses, men whose days were lengthened;¹⁴ neither didst thou dwell among the inhabitants of Madian to rehearse to them our signs, but we sent Apostles to them.¹⁵

Nor wast thou on the slope of Sinai when we called to Moses, but it is of the mercy of thy Lord that thou warnest a people, to whom no warner had come before thee, to the intent that they should reflect:

And that they should not say when a calamity shall befall them for their previous handy work, ‘O our Lord! why hast thou not sent an Apostle to us? Then we should have followed thy signs and have been of the believers.’

Yet when the truth came to them from our very presence, they said, ‘Unless the like powers be given to him that were given to Moses. . .’¹⁶ But did they not disbelieve in what of old was given to Moses? They said, ‘Two works of sorcery¹⁷ have helped each other;’ and they said, ‘We disbelieve them both.’

SAY: Bring then a Book from before God which shall be a better guide than these, that I may follow it; if ye speak the truth.

And if they answer thee not, then know that verily they are following their own caprices; and who goeth more widely astray than he who followeth his own caprice without guidance from God? for God guideth not the wicked.

And now have we caused our word to come unto them, that they may be warned:

They¹⁸ to whom we gave the Scriptures before IT, do in IT believe.

And when it is recited to them they say, ‘We believe in it, for it is the truth from our Lord. We were Muslims before it came.’

Twice shall their reward be given them, for that they suffered with patience, and repelled evil with good, and gave alms out of that with which we provided them.

And when they hear light discourse they withdraw from it, and say, ‘Our works for us and your works for you! Peace be on you! We are not in quest of fools!’

Thou truly canst not guide whom thou desirest; but God guideth whom He will; and He best knoweth those who yield to guidance.

But they say, ‘If we follow the way in which thou art guided,¹⁹ we shall be driven from our country.’ But have we not established for them a sacred secure precinct, to which fruits of every kind, our gift for their support, are gathered together? But most of them have no knowledge.

And how many cities have we destroyed that flourished in wanton ease! And these their dwellings have not been inhabited since their time save by a few, and it is we who became their heirs.

But thy Lord did not destroy the cities till He had sent an apostle to their mother-city to rehearse our signs to its people: nor did we destroy the cities unless its people were unjust.

And all that hath been bestowed on you is merely for enjoyment and pomp of this life present: but that which is with God is better and more lasting. Will ye not be wise?

Shall he then to whom we have promised a goodly promise and who obtaineth it, be as he on whom we have bestowed the enjoyments of this life present, and who on the day of Resurrection shall be brought up for punishment?

On that day will God cry to them and say, ‘Where are my companions, as ye supposed them?’

They on whom doom shall be justly pronounced will say, ‘O our Lord! these are they whom we led astray: we led them astray even as we had been led astray ourselves: Thou hast no cause of blame against us: It was not we whom they worshipped.²⁰

And it shall be said, ‘Call now on those whom ye made God’s companions:’ and they shall call on them, but they will not answer them. And they shall see the punishment, and wish that they had been guided aright.

And on that day shall God call to them and say, ‘How answered ye the apostles?’

But on that day they shall be too blinded with confusion to give an account,²¹ nor shall they ask it of one another.

Yet as to him who shall turn to God and believe and do the thing that is right, it may come to pass that he shall be among the happy.

And thy Lord createth what he will and hath a free choice. But they, the false gods, have no power to choose. Glory be to God! and high let him be exalted above those whom they associate with him.

And thy Lord knoweth what their breasts conceal and what they bring to light.

And He is God! There is no god but He! His, all praise in this life and in the next, and His the power supreme,²² and to Him shall ye be brought back!

What think ye? If God should enshroud you with a long night until the day of resurrection, what god beside God would bring you light? Will ye not then hearken?

SAY: What think ye? If God should make it one long day for you until the day of resurrection, what god but God could bring you the night in which to take your rest? Will ye not then see?

Of His mercy he hath made for you the night that ye may take your rest in it; and the day that ye may seek what ye need out of his bounteous supplies, and that ye may give thanks.

One day God will call to them and say, ‘Where are my companions as ye supposed them?’

And we will bring up a witness out of every nation and say, ‘Bring your proofs.’ And they shall know that the truth is with God alone, and the gods of their own devising shall desert them.

Now Korah²³ was of the people of Moses: but he behaved haughtily towards them; for we had given him such treasure that its keys would have burdened a company of men of strength. When his people said to him, ‘Exult not, for God loveth not those who exult;

But seek, by means of what God hath given thee, to attain the future Mansion; and neglect not thy part in this world, but be bounteous to others as God hath been bounteous to thee, and seek not to commit excesses on the earth; for God loveth not those who commit excesses:’

He said, ‘It hath been given me only on account of the knowledge that is in me.’ Did he not know that God had destroyed before him generations that were mightier than he in strength and had amassed more abundant wealth? But the wicked shall not be asked of their crimes.

And Korah went forth to his people in his pomp. Those who were greedy for this present life said, ‘Oh that we had the like of that which hath been bestowed on Korah! Truly he is possessed of great good fortune.’

But they to whom knowledge had been given said, ‘Woe to you! the reward of God is better for him who believeth and worketh righteousness, and none shall win it but those who have patiently endured.’

And we clave the earth for him and for his palace, and he had no forces, in the place of God,²⁴ to help him, nor was he among those who are succored.

And in the morning those who the day before had coveted his lot said, ‘Aha! God enlargeth supplies to whom he pleaseth of his servants, or is sparing. Had not God been gracious to us, He had caused it to cleave for us. Aha! the ungrateful can never prosper.’

As to this future mansion, we will bestow it on those who seek not to exalt them in the earth or to do wrong: And there is a happy issue for the God-fearing.

Whoso doeth good shall have reward beyond its merits, and whoso doeth evil, they who do evil shall be rewarded only as they shall have wrought.

He who hath sanctioned the Koran to thee will certainly bring thee to thy home.²⁵ SAY: My Lord best knoweth who hath guidance, and who is in undoubted error.

Thou didst never expect that the Book would be given thee. Of thy Lord’s mercy only hath it been sent down. Be not thou helpful then to the unbelievers:

Neither let them turn thee aside from the signs of God after they have been sent down to thee, but bid men to thy Lord; and be not among those who add gods to God:

And call not on any other god with God. There is no god but He! Everything shall perish except Himself! Judgment is His, and to Him shall ye return!

Sura 29 - THE SPIDER

MECCA - 69 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Elif. Lam. Mim.¹ Think men that when they say, ‘We believe,’ they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?

We put to proof those who lived before them; for God will surely take knowledge of those who are sincere, and will surely take knowledge of the liars.

Think they who work evil that they shall escape Us? Ill do they judge.

To him who hopeth to meet God, the set time of God will surely come. The Hearer, the Knower, He!

Whoso maketh efforts for the faith, maketh them for his own good only. Verily God is rich enough to dispense with all creatures.

And as to those who shall have believed and done the things that are right, their evil deeds will we surely blot out from them, and according to their best actions will we surely reward them.

Moreover we have enjoined on man to show kindness to parents: but if they strive with thee that thou join that with Me of which thou hast no knowledge,² obey them not. To me do ye return, and then will I tell you of your doings:

And those who shall have believed and done the things that are right, we will surely give them an entering in among the just.

But some men say, ‘We believe in God,’ yet when they meet with sufferings in the cause of God, they regard trouble from man as chastisement from God. Yet if a success come from thy Lord they are sure to say, ‘We were on your side!’ Doth not God well know what is in the breasts of his creatures?

Yes, and God well knoweth those who believe, and He well knoweth the Hypocrites.

The unbelievers say to the faithful, ‘Follow ye our way, and we will surely bear your sins.’ But not aught of their sins will they bear — verily they are liars!

But their own burdens, and burdens beside their own burdens shall they surely bear: and inquisition shall be made of them on the day of Resurrection as to their false devices.

Of old sent we Noah to his people: a thousand years save fifty did he tarry among them; and the flood overtook them in their wrongful doings:

But we rescued him and those who were in the vessel; and we made it a sign to all men:

And Abraham; when he said to his people, ‘Worship God and fear Him. This will be best for you, if ye have knowledge;’

Ye only worship idols beside God, and are the authors of a lie. Those whom ye worship beside God can give you no supplies: seek, then, your supplies from God; and serve Him and give Him thanks. To Him shall ye return.

Suppose that ye treat me as a liar! nations before you have treated God’s messenger as a liar; but open preaching is his only duty.

See they not how God bringeth forth creation? and then causeth it to return again? Thus truly is easy for God.

SAY,³ Go through the earth, and see how he hath brought forth created beings. Hereafter, with a second birth will God cause them to be born again; for God is Almighty.

Whom He pleaseth will He chastise, and on whom He pleaseth will He have mercy, and to Him shall ye be taken back.

And ye shall not invalidate his power either in the Earth or in the Heaven:⁴ and, save God, ye shall have neither patron nor helper.

As for those who believe not in the signs of God, or that they shall ever meet him, these of my mercy shall despair, and these doth a grievous chastisement await.’

And the only answer of his people was to say, ‘Slay him or burn him.’ But from the fire did God save him! Verily, herein are signs to those who believe.

And Abraham said, ‘Of a truth ye have taken idols along with God as your bond of union⁵ in this life present;

But on the day of resurrection some of you shall deny the others, and some of you shall curse the others; and your abode shall be the fire, and ye shall have none to help.’

But Lot believed on him,⁶ and said, ‘I betake me to my Lord, for He truly is the Mighty, the Wise.’

And we bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob,⁷ and placed the gift of prophecy and the Scripture among his posterity; And we gave him his reward in this world, and in the next he shall be among the just.

We sent also Lot: when he said to his people, ‘Proceed ye to a filthiness in which no people in the world hath ever gone before you?

Proceed ye even to men? attack ye them on the highway? and proceed ye to the crime in your assemblies?’ But the only answer of his people was to say, ‘Bring God’s chastisement upon us, if thou art a man of truth.’

He cried: My Lord! help me against this polluted people.

And when our messengers came to Abraham with the tidings of a son, they said, ‘Of a truth we will destroy the in-dwellers in this city, for its in-dwellers are evil doers.’

He said, ‘Lot is therein.’ They said, ‘We know full well who therein is. Him and his family will we save, except his wife; she will be of those who linger.

And when our messengers came to Lot, he was troubled for them, and his arm was too weak⁸ to protect them; and they said, ‘Fear not, and distress not thyself, for thee and thy family will we save, except thy wife; she will be of those who linger.⁹

We will surely bring down upon the dwellers in this city vengeance from Heaven for the excesses they have committed.’

And in what we have left of it is a clear sign to men of understanding.

And to Madian we sent their brother Shoaib. And he said, ‘Oh! my people! worship God, and expect the latter day, and enact not in the land deeds of harmful excess.’

But they treated him as an impostor: so an earthquake assailed them; and at morn they were found prostrate and dead in their dwellings.

And we destroyed Ad and Themoud. Already is this made plain to you in the ruins of their dwellings. For Satan had made their own works fair seeming to them, and drew them from the right path, keen-sighted though they were.

And Corah and Pharaoh and Haman. With proofs of his mission did Moses come to them, and they behaved proudly on the earth; but us they could not outstrip;¹⁰

For, every one of them did we seize in his sin. Against some of them did we send a stone-charged wind: Some of them did the terrible cry of Gabriel surprise: for some of them we cleaved the earth; and some of them we drowned. And it was not God who would deal wrongly by them, but they wronged themselves.

The likeness for those who take to themselves guardians instead of God is the likeness of the SPIDER who buildeth her a house: But verily, frailest of all houses surely is the house of the spider. Did they but know this!

God truly knoweth all that they call on beside Him; and He is the Mighty, the Wise.

These similitudes do we set forth to men: and none understand them except the wise.

God hath created the Heavens and the Earth for a serious end.¹¹ Verily in this is a sign to those who believe.

Recite the portions of the Book which have been revealed to thee and discharge the duty of prayer: for prayer restraineth from the filthy and the blame-worthy. And the gravest duty is the remembrance of God; and God knoweth what ye do.

Dispute not, unless in kindly sort, with the people of the Book;¹² save with such of them as have dealt wrongfully with you: And say ye, ‘We believe in what hath been sent down to us and hath been sent down to you. Our God and your God is one, and to him are we self-surrendered’ (Muslims).

Thus have we sent down the Book of the Koran to thee: and they to whom we have given the Book of the law believe in it: and of these Arabians there are those who believe in it: and none, save the Infidels, reject our signs.

Thou didst not recite any book (of revelation) before it: with that right hand of thine thou didst not transcribe one: else might they who treat it as a vain thing have justly doubted:

But it is a clear sign in the hearts of those whom ‘the knowledge’ hath reached. None except the wicked reject our signs.

And they say, ‘Unless a sign be sent down to him from his Lord. . .’ SAY: Signs are in the power of God alone. I am only a plain spoken warner.

Is it not enough for them that we have sent down to thee the Book to be recited to them? In this verily is a mercy and a warning to those who believe.

SAY: God is witness enough between me and you.

He knoweth all that is in the Heavens and the Earth, and they who believe in vain things¹³ and disbelieve in God — these shall be the lost ones.

They will challenge thee to hasten the punishment: but had there not been a season fixed for it, that punishment had already come upon them. But it shall overtake them suddenly when they look not for it.

They will challenge thee to hasten the punishment: but verily Hell shall be round about the infidels.

One day the punishment shall wrap them round, both from above them and from beneath their feet; and God will say, ‘Taste ye your own doings.’

O my servants who have believed! Vast truly is my Earth:¹⁴ me, therefore! yea worship me.

Every soul shall taste of death. Then to us shall ye return.

But those who shall have believed and wrought righteousness will we lodge in gardens with palaces, beneath which the rivers flow. For ever shall they abide therein. How goodly the reward of those who labor,

Who patiently endure, and put their trust in their Lord!

How many animals are there which provide not¹⁵ their own food! God feedeth them and you. He Heareth, Knoweth all things.

If thou ask them who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, and hath imposed laws on the sun and on the moon, they will certainly say, ‘God.’ How then can they devise lies?

God lavisheth supplies on such of his servants as He pleaseth or giveth to them by measure. God knoweth all things.

If thou ask them who sendeth rain from heaven, and by it quickeneth the earth, after it hath been dead, they will certainly answer, ‘God.’ SAY: Praise be to God! Yet most of them do not understand.

This present life is no other than a pastime and a disport: but truly the future mansion is life indeed! Would that they knew this!

Lo! when they embark on shipboard, they call upon God, vowing him sincere worship, but when He bringeth them safe to land, behold they join partners with Him.

In our revelation they believe not, yet take their fill of good things. But in the end they shall know their folly.

Do they not see that we have established a safe precinct¹⁶ while all around them men are being spoiled? Will they then believe in vain idols, and not own the goodness of God?

But who acteth more wrongly than he who deviseth a lie against God, or calls the truth when it hath come to him, a lie? Is there not an abode for the infidels in Hell?

And whoso maketh efforts for us, in our ways will we guide them: for God is assuredly with those who do righteous deeds.

Sura 30 - THE GREEKS

MECCA - 60 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Elif. Lam. Mim.¹ THE GREEKS have been defeated²
In a land hard by: But after their defeat they shall defeat their foes,
In a few years.³ First and last is the affair with God. And on that day shall the faithful rejoice
In the aid of their God: He aideth whom He will; and He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
It is the promise of God: To his promise God will not be untrue: but most men know it not.
They know the outward shows of this life present, but of the next life are they careless.

Have they not considered within themselves that God hath not created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between them but for a serious end, and for a fixed term? But truly most men believe not that they shall meet their Lord.

Have they never journeyed through the land, and seen what hath been the end of those who were before them? Mightier were they than these in strength; and they broke up the land, and dwelt in it in greater numbers than they who dwell there now; and their apostles came to them with proofs of their mission: and it was not God who would wrong them, but they wronged themselves.

Then evil was the end of the evil doers; because they had treated our signs as lies, and laughed them to scorn.

God bringeth forth the creation — then causeth it to return again — then to Him shall ye come back.⁴

And on the day when the hour shall arrive, the guilty shall be struck dumb for despair,

And they shall have no intercessors from among the gods whom they have joined with God, and they shall deny the gods they joined with Him.

And on that day when the Hour shall arrive, shall men be separated one from another;

And as for those who shall have believed and done the things that are right, they shall enjoy themselves in a flowery mead;

But as for those who shall not have believed, but treated our signs and the meeting of the next life as lies, they shall be given over to the torment.

Glorify God therefore when ye reach the evening, and when ye rise at morn:

And to Him be praise in the Heavens and on the Earth; and at twilight, and when ye rest at noon.

He bringeth forth the living out of the dead, and He bringeth forth the dead out of the living: and He quickeneth the earth when dead. Thus is it that ye too shall be brought forth.⁵

And one of his signs it is that He hath created you out of dust; then lo! ye become men who spread themselves far and wide:

And one of his signs it is, that He hath created wives for you of your own species,⁶ that ye may dwell with them, and hath put love and tenderness between you. Herein truly are signs for those who reflect.

And among his signs are the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth, and your variety of tongues and color. Herein truly are signs for all men.

And of his signs are your sleep by night and by day, and your goings in quest of his bounties. Herein truly are signs to those who hearken.

And of his signs are, that He showeth you the lightning, a source of awe and hope; and that He sendeth down rain from the heaven and giveth life by it to the earth when dead. Herein truly are signs to those who understand.

And of his signs also one is that the Heaven and the Earth stand firm at his bidding: hereafter, when with one summons He shall summon you out of the earth,— lo! forth shall ye come.

His, whatsoever is in the Heavens and on the Earth: all are obedient to him.

And He it is who bringeth a creature forth, then causeth it to return again; and to him is this most easy. To whatever is loftiest in heaven and earth is He to be likened; and He is the Mighty, the Wise.

He setteth forth to you an instance drawn from yourselves. Have ye among the slaves whom your right hands have won, any partner in what we have bestowed on you, so that ye share alike? Fear ye them as ye fear each other? (Thus make we our signs clear to men of understanding.)

No, ye do not. But the wicked, devoid of knowledge, follow their own desires:⁷ and those whom God shall mislead, who shall guide, and who shall be their protector?

Set thou thy face then, as a true convert,⁸ towards the Faith which God hath made, and for which He hath made man. No change is there in the creation of God. This is the right Faith, but the greater part of men know it not.

And be ye turned to Him, and fear Him, and observe prayer, and be not of those who unite gods with God:

Of those who have split up their religion, and have become sects, where every party rejoices in what is their own.⁹

When some evil toucheth men, they turn to their Lord and call upon him: then when he hath made them taste his mercy, lo, a part of them join other gods with their Lord,

Ungrateful for our favors! Enjoy yourselves then. But in the end ye shall know your folly.

Have we sent down to them any mandate which speaketh in favor of what they join with God?

When we cause men to taste mercy they rejoice in it; but if, for that which their hands have aforetime wrought, evil befall them, they despair.

See they not that God bestoweth full supplies on whom He pleaseth and giveth sparingly to whom He pleaseth? Signs truly are there herein to those who believe.

To him who is of kin to thee give his due, and to the poor and to the wayfarer: this will be best for those who seek the face of God; and with them it shall be well.

Whatever ye put out at usury to increase it with the substance of others shall have no increase from God:¹⁰ but whatever ye shall give in alms, as seeking the face of God, shall be doubled to you.

It is God who created you — then fed you — then will cause you to die — then will make you alive. Is there any of your companion-gods who can do aught of these things? Praise be to Him! and far be He exalted above the gods they join with Him.

Destruction hath appeared by land and by sea on account of what men’s hands have wrought, that it might make them taste somewhat of the fruit of their doings, that haply they might turn to God.

SAY: Journey through the land, and see what hath been the end of those who were before you! The greater part of them joined other gods with God.

Set thy face then towards the right faith, ere the day come which none can hinder God from bringing on.¹¹ On that day shall they be parted in twain:

Unbelievers on whom shall be their unbelief; and they who have wrought righteousness, and prepared for themselves couches of repose:

That of his bounty He may reward those who have believed and wrought righteousness; for the unbelievers He loveth not.

And one of his signs is that He sendeth the winds with glad tidings of rain, both that He may cause you to taste his mercy, and that ships may sail at his command, that out of his bounties ye may seek wealth, and that haply ye may render thanks.

We have sent apostles before thee to their peoples, and they presented themselves to them with clear proofs of their mission; and while it behoved us to succor the faithful, we took vengeance on the guilty.

It is God who sendeth the winds and uplifteth the clouds, and, as He pleaseth, spreadeth them on high, and breaketh them up; and thou mayest see the rain issuing from their midst; and when He poureth it down on such of his servants as He pleaseth, lo! they are filled with joy,

Even they who before it was sent down to them, were in mute despair.

Look then at the traces of God’s mercy — how after its death he quickeneth the earth! This same God will surely quicken the dead, for to all things His might is equal.

Yet should we send a blast, and should they see their harvest turn yellow, they would afterwards show themselves ungrateful.

Thou canst not make the dead to hear, neither canst thou make the deaf to hear the call, when they withdraw and turn their backs:

Neither canst thou guide the blind out of their error: in sooth, none shalt thou make to hear, save him who shall believe in our signs: for they are resigned to our will (Muslims).

It is God who hath created you in weakness, then after weakness hath given you strength: then after strength, weakness and grey hairs: He createth what He will; and He is the Wise, the Powerful.

And on the day whereon the Hour shall arrive, the wicked will swear

That not above an hour have they waited: Even so did they utter lies on earth:

But they to whom knowledge and faith have been given will say, ‘Ye have waited, in accordance with the book of God, till the day of Resurrection: for this is the day of the Resurrection — but ye knew it not.’

On that day their plea shall not avail the wicked, neither shall they again be bidden to seek acceptance with God.

And now have we set before men, in this Koran, every kind of parable: yet if thou bring them a single verse of it, the infidels will surely say, ‘Ye are only utterers of vain things.’

It is thus that God hath sealed up the hearts of those who are devoid of knowledge.

But do thou, Muhammad, bear with patience, for true is the promise of God; and let not those who have no firm belief, unsettle thee.

Sura 31 - LOKMAN¹

MECCA - 34 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Elif. Lam. Mim.² These are the verses (signs) of the wise Book,
A guidance and a mercy to the righteous,
Who observe prayer, and pay the impost,³ and believe firmly in the life to come:—
These rest on guidance from their Lord, and with these it shall be well.

But a man there is⁴ who buyeth an idle tale, that in his lack of knowledge he may mislead others from the way of God, and turn it to scorn. For such is prepared a shameful punishment!

And when our signs are rehearsed to him, he turneth away disdainfully, as though he heard them not,— as though his ears were heavy with deafness. Announce to him therefore tidings of an afflictive punishment!

But they who shall have believed and wrought good works, shall enjoy the gardens of delight:

For ever shall they dwell therein: it is God’s true promise! and He is the Mighty, the Wise.

Without pillars that can be seen hath He created the heavens, and on the earth hath thrown mountains lest it should move with you;⁵ and He hath scattered over it animals of every sort: and from the Heaven we send down rain and cause every kind of noble plant to grow up therein.

This is the creation of God: Show me now what others than He have created. Ah! the ungodly are in a manifest delusion.

Of old we bestowed wisdom upon LOKMAN, and taught him thus — ‘Be thankful to God: for whoever is thankful, is thankful to his own behoof; and if any shall be thankless. . . God truly is self-sufficient, worthy of all praise!’

And bear in mind when Lokman said to his son by way of warning, ‘O my son! join not other gods with God, for the joining gods with God is the great impiety.’

(We have commanded⁶ man concerning his parents. His mother carrieth him with weakness upon weakness; nor until after two years is he weaned.⁷ Be grateful to me, and to thy parents. Unto me shall all come.

But if they importune thee to join that with Me of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not: comport thyself towards them in this world as is meet and right; but follow the way of him who turneth unto me. Unto me shall ye return at last, and then will I tell you of your doings;)

‘Oh my son! verily God will bring everything to light, though it were but the weight of a grain of mustard-seed, and hidden in a rock or in the heavens or in the earth; for, God is subtile, informed of all.

O my son! observe prayer, and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and be patient under whatever shall betide thee: for this is a bounden duty.

And distort not thy face at men; nor walk thou loftily on the earth; for God loveth no arrogant vain-glorious one.

But let thy pace be middling; and lower thy voice: for the least pleasing of voices is surely the voice of asses.’

See ye not how that God hath put under you all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and hath been bounteous to you of his favors, both for soul and body.⁸ But some are there who dispute of God without knowledge, and have no guidance and no illuminating Book:

And when it is said to them, Follow ye what God hath sent down, they say, ‘Nay; that religion in which we found our fathers will we follow.’ What! though Satan bid them to the torment of the flame?

But whoso setteth his face towards God with self-surrender, and is a doer of that which is good, hath laid hold on a sure handle; for unto God is the issue of all things.

But let not the unbelief of the unbelieving grieve thee: unto us shall they return: then will we tell them of their doings; for God knoweth the very secrets of the breast.

Yet a little while will we provide for them: afterwards will we force them to a stern punishment.

if thou ask them who hath created the heavens and the earth, they will certainly reply, ‘God.’ SAY: God be praised! But most of them have no knowledge.

God’s, whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth! for God, He is the Rich,⁹ the Praiseworthy.

If all the trees that are upon the earth were to become pens, and if God should after that swell the sea into seven seas of ink, His words would not be exhausted: for God is Mighty, Wise.¹⁰

Your creation and your quickening hereafter, are but as those of a single individual. Verily, God Heareth, Seeth!

Seest thou not that God causeth the night to come in upon the day, and the day to come in upon the night? and that he hath subjected the sun and the moon to laws by which each speedeth along to an appointed goal? and that God therefore is acquainted with that which ye do?

This, for that God is the truth; and that whatever ye call upon beside Him is a vain thing; and that God — He is the High, the Great.

Seest thou not how the ships speed on in the sea, through the favor of God, that he may show you of his signs? for herein are signs to all patient, grateful ones.

When the waves cover them like dark shadows they call upon God as with sincere religion; but when He safely landeth them, some of them there are who halt between two opinions.¹¹ Yet none reject our signs but all deceitful, ungrateful ones.

O men! fear ye your Lord, and dread the day whereon father shall not atone for son, neither shall a son in the least atone for his father.

Aye! the promise of God is a truth. Let not this present life then deceive you; neither let the deceiver deceive you concerning God.

Aye! God! — with Him is the knowledge of the Hour: and He sendeth down the rain — and He knoweth what is in the wombs — but no soul knoweth what it shall have gotten on the morrow: neither knoweth any soul in what land it shall die. But God is knowing, informed of all.

Sura 32 - ADORATION

MECCA - 30 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Elif. Lam. Mim.¹ This Book is without a doubt a Revelation sent down from the Lord of the Worlds.

Will they say, He hath forged it? Nay, it is the truth from thy Lord that thou mayest warn a people to whom no warner hath come before thee, that haply they may be guided.

God it is who hath created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between them in six days; then ascended his throne. Save Him ye have no patron, and none to plead for you. Will ye not then reflect?

From the Heaven to the Earth He governeth all things: hereafter shall they come up to Him on a day whose length shall be a thousand of such years as ye reckon.²

This is He who knoweth the unseen and the seen; the Mighty, the Merciful,

Who hath made everything which He hath created most good, and began the creation of man with clay;

Then ordained his progeny from germs of life,³ from sorry water:

Then shaped him, and breathed of His Spirit into him, and gave you hearing and seeing and hearts: what little thanks do ye return!

And they say, ‘What! when we shall have lain hidden in the earth, shall we become a new creation?’

Yea, they deny that they shall meet their Lord.

SAY: The angel of death who is charged with you shall cause you to die: then shall ye be returned to your Lord.

Couldst thou but see when the guilty shall droop their heads before their Lord, and cry, ‘O our Lord! we have seen and we have heard: return us then to life: we will do that which is right. Verily we believe firmly!’

(Had we pleased we had certainly given to every soul its guidance. But true shall be the word which hath gone forth from me — I will surely fill hell with Djinn and men together.)

‘Taste then the recompense of your having forgotten the meeting with this your day. We, too, we have forgotten you: taste then an eternal punishment for that which ye have wrought.’

They only believe in our signs, who, when mention is made of them, fall down in ADORATION, and celebrate the praise of their Lord, and are not puffed up with disdain:

Who, as they raise them⁴ from their couches, call on their Lord with fear and desire, and give alms of that with which we have supplied them.

No soul knoweth what joy of the eyes is reserved for the good in recompense of their works.

Shall he then who is a believer be as he who sinneth grossly? they shall not be held alike.

As to those who believe and do that which is right, they shall have gardens of eternal abode as the meed of their works:

But as for those who grossly sin, their abode shall be the fire: so oft as they shall desire to escape out of it, back shall they be turned into it. And it shall be said to them, Taste ye the torment of the fire, which ye treated as a lie.

And we will surely cause them to taste a punishment yet nearer at hand, besides the greater punishment, that haply they may turn to us in penitence.

Who acteth worse than he who is warned by the signs of his Lord, then turneth away from them? We will surely take vengeance on the guilty ones.

We heretofore gave the Book of the law to Moses: have thou no doubt as to our meeting with him:⁵ and we appointed it for the guidance of the children of Israel.

And we appointed Imams from among them who should guide after our command when they had themselves endured with constancy, and had firmly believed in our signs.

Now thy Lord! He will decide between them on the day of resurrection as to the subject of their disputes.

Is it not notorious to them how many generations, through whose abodes they walk, we have destroyed before them? Truly herein are signs: will they not then hear?

See they not how we drive the rain to some parched land and thereby bring forth corn of which their cattle and themselves do eat? Will they not then behold?

They say, ‘When will this decision take place? Tell us, if ye are men of truth?’

SAY: On the day of that decision, the faith of infidels shall not avail them, and they shall have no further respite.

Stand aloof from them then, and wait thou, for they too wait.⁶

Sura 33 - THE CONFEDERATES¹

MEDINA - 73 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O Prophet, fear thou God, and obey not the unbelievers and the hypocrites;— Truly God is Knowing, Wise:

But follow what is revealed to thee from thy Lord: Cognizant truly is He of all your actions —

And put thou thy trust in God, for a sufficient guardian is God.

God hath not given a man two hearts within him; neither hath he made your wives whom ye divorce² to be as your mothers; nor hath he made your adopted sons to be as your own sons. Such words are indeed in your mouths; but God speaketh the truth, and in the right way He guideth.

Name them after their fathers: this will be more right before God. But if ye know not who their fathers are, then let them be your brethren in the faith, and your comrades. And unless made with intent of heart, mistakes in this matter shall be no crime in you: for God is Lenient, Merciful.

Nearer of kin to the faithful is the Prophet, than they are to their own selves. His wives are their mothers. According to the Book of God, they who are related by blood, are nearer the one to the other than other believers, and than those who have fled their country³ for the cause of God: but whatever kindness ye show to your kindred, shall be noted down in the Book.

And remember that we have entered into covenant with the Prophets, and with thee, and with Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus, Son of Mary: and we formed with them a strict covenant,

That God may question the men of truth as to their truth.⁴ But a sore torment hath He prepared for the unbelievers.

O believers!⁵ remember the goodness of God towards you, when the armies came against you, and we sent against them a blast, and hosts that ye saw not; for the eye of God was upon your doings:

When they assailed you from above you, and from below you,⁶ and when your eyes became distracted, and your hearts came up into your throat, and ye thought divers thoughts of God:

Then were the faithful tried, and with strong quaking did they quake:

And when the disaffected and the diseased⁷ of heart said, ‘God and his Apostle have made us but a cheating promise:’

And when a party of them said, ‘O people of Yathrib!⁸ there is no place of safety for you here;⁹ therefore return into the city.’ And another party of you asked the prophet’s Ieave to return, saying, ‘Our houses are left defenseless.’ No! they were not left defenseless: but their sole thought was to flee away.

If the enemy had effected an entry at all points, and they (the disaffected) had been asked to promote confusion, they would have done so; but only a short time would they have remained in it. — (Medina).¹⁰

They had before pledged themselves to God that they would not turn their backs; and a pledge given to God must be enquired of.

SAY: Flight shall not profit you; if ye have fled the death or the slaughter, yet even then, but a little while shall ye enjoy your good things!

SAY: Who is he that will screen you from God, whether He choose to bring evil on you, or to show you mercy? None beside God shall they find to be their patron or helper.

God well knoweth those among you who cause hindrances, and those who say to their brethren, ‘Come hither to us;’ and who come not to the fight except a little.

It is out of covetousness in your regard: for when an alarm cometh, thou mayest see them look to thee, and roll their eyes like him on whom the shadows of death have fallen! Yet, when the alarm is passed, with sharp tongues will they assail you, covetous of the best of the spoil. No faith have these! God will make their doings of no avail! And easy is this with God.

They thought that the CONFEDERATES would never retire:¹¹ and were the confederates to come again, they would fain be dwelling among the Arabs of the desert, and there ask news about you! for though they were with you, they fought not except a little.

A noble pattern had ye in God’s Apostle, for all who hope in God, and in the latter day, and oft remember God!

And when the faithful saw the confederates, they said, ‘This is what God and His Apostle promised us,¹² and God and His Apostle spoke truly:’ and it only increased their faith and selfdevotion.

Some were there among the faithful who made good what they had promised to God. Some have fulfilled their course, and others await its fulfillment, and have not been changelings who change —

That God may reward the faithful for their faithfulness, and may punish the hypocrites, if He so please, or be turned unto them: for God is Forgiving, Merciful.

And God drove back the infidels in their wrath; they won no advantage; God sufficed the faithful in the fight: for God is Strong, Mighty!

And He caused those of the people of the Book (the Jews), who had aided the confederates, to come down out of their fortresses, and cast dismay into their hearts: some ye slew, others ye took prisoners.¹³

And He gave you their land, and their dwellings, and their wealth, for an heritage — even a land on which ye had never set foot: for the might of God is equal to all things.

O Prophet! say to thy wives,¹⁴ If ye desire this present life and its braveries, come then, I will provide for you, and dismiss you with an honorable dismissal.

But if ye desire God and His Apostle, and a home in the next life, then, truly, hath God prepared for those of you who are virtuous, a great reward.

O wives of the Prophet! should any of you be guilty of a proven lewdness, doubly shall her chastisement be doubled: and with God this is easy.

But whoever of you shall obey God and His Apostle, and shall do that which is right, twice over will we give her her reward, and we have prepared for her a noble provision.

O wives of the Prophet! ye are not as other women. If ye fear God, be not too complaisant of speech, lest the man of unhealthy heart should lust after you, but speak with discreet speech.

And abide still in your houses, and go not in public decked as in the days of your former ignorance,¹⁵ but observe prayer, and pay the impost, and obey God and the Apostle: for God only desireth to put away filthiness from you¹⁶ as his household, and with cleansing to cleanse you.

And recollect what is rehearsed to you in your houses of the Book of God, and of wisdom: for God is keen-sighted, cognizant of all.

Truly the men who resign themselves to God (Muslims), and the women who resign themselves, and the believing men and the believing women, and the devout men and the devout women, and the men of truth, and the women of truth, and the patient men and the patient women, and the humble men and the humble women, and the men who give alms and the women who give alms, and the men who fast and the women who fast, and the chaste men and the chaste women, and the men and the women who oft remember God: for them hath God prepared forgiveness and a rich recompense.

And it is not for a believer, man or woman, to have any choice in their affairs, when God and His Apostle have decreed a matter: and whoever disobeyeth God and His Apostle, erreth with palpable error.

And, remember, when thou saidst to him unto whom God had shown favor, and to whom thou also hadst shown favor,¹⁷ ‘Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear God;’ and thou didst hide in thy mind what God would bring to light,¹⁸ and thou didst fear man; but more right had it been to fear God. And when Zaid had settled concerning her to divorce her, we married her to thee, that it might not be a crime in the faithful to marry the wives of their adopted sons, when they have settled the affair concerning them. And the behest of God is to be performed.

No blame attacheth to the prophet where God hath given him a permission. Such was the way of God with those prophets who flourished before thee; for God’s behest is a fixed decree —

Who fulfilled the mission with which God had charged them,¹⁹ and feared Him, and feared none but God. And God taketh a sufficient account.

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Apostle of God, and the seal of the prophets: and God knoweth all things.

O Believers! remember God with frequent remembrance, and praise Him morning and evening.

He blesseth you, and His angels intercede for you, that He may bring you forth out of darkness into light: and Merciful is He to the Believers.

Their greeting on the day when they shall meet Him shall be ‘Peace!’ And He hath got ready for them a noble recompense.

O Prophet! we have sent thee to be a witness, and a herald of glad tidings, and a warner;

And one who, through His own permission, summoneth to God, and a light-giving torch.

Announce, therefore, to believers, that great boons do await them from God;

And obey not the Infidels and Hypocrites — yet abstain from injuring them: and put thou thy trust in God, for God is a sufficient guardian.

O Believers! when ye marry believing women, and then divorce them before ye have consummated the marriage, ye have no term prescribed you, which ye must fulfill towards them: provide for them, and dismiss them with a reputable dismissal.

O Prophet! we allow thee thy wives whom thou hast dowered, and the slaves whom thy right hand possesseth out of the booty which God hath granted thee, and the daughters of thy uncle, and of thy paternal and maternal aunts who fled with thee to Medina, and any believing woman who hath given herself up to the Prophet, if the Prophet desired to wed her — a Privilege for thee above the rest of the Faithful.

We well know what we have settled for them, in regard to their wives and to the slaves whom their right hands hold, that there may be no fault on thy part:²⁰ and God is Indulgent, Merciful!

Thou mayst decline for the present whom thou wilt of them, and thou mayest take to thy bed her whom thou wilt, and whomsoever thou shalt long for of those thou shalt have before neglected; and this shall not be a crime in thee. Thus will it be easier to give them the desire of their eyes, and not to put them to grief, and to satisfy them with what thou shalt accord to each of them. God knoweth what is in your hearts, and God is Knowing, Gracious.

It is not permitted thee to take other wives hereafter,²¹ nor to change thy present wives for other women, though their beauty charm thee, except slaves whom thy right hand shall possess.²² And God watcheth all things.

O Believers! enter not into the houses of the Prophet,²³ save by his leave, for a meal, without waiting his time. When ye are invited then enter, and when ye have eaten then disperse at once.²⁴ And engage not in familiar talk, for this would cause the Prophet trouble, and he would be ashamed to bid you go; but God is not ashamed to say the truth. And when ye would ask any gift of his wives, ask it from behind a veil. Purer will this be for your hearts and for their hearts. And ye must not trouble the Apostle of God, nor marry his wives, after him, for ever. This would be a grave offense with God.

Whether ye bring a matter to the light or hide it, God truly hath knowledge of all things.

No blame shall attach to them (your wives) for speaking to their fathers unveiled, or to their sons, or to their brothers, or to their brothers’ sons, or to their sisters’ sons, or to their women, or to the slaves whom their right hands hold. And fear ye God: for God witnesseth all things.

Verily, God and His Angels bless the Prophet! Bless ye Him, O Believers, and salute Him with salutations of Peace.

Verily, they who affront God and His Apostle, the curse of God is on them in this world, and in the world to come: and He hath prepared for them a shameful chastisement.

And they who shall affront believing men and believing women, for no fault of theirs, they shall surely bear the guilt of slander, and of a clear wrong.

O Prophet! speak to thy wives and to thy daughters,²⁵ and to the wives of the Faithful, that they let their veils fall low. Thus will they more easily be known, and they will not be affronted. God is Indulgent, Merciful!

If the Hypocrites, and the men of tainted heart, and the stirrers of sedition in Medina desist not, we will surely stir thee up against them. Then shall they not be suffered to dwell near thee therein, but a little while:

Cursed wherever they are found; they shall be seized and slain with slaughter!

Such hath been the way of God with those who lived before them; and no change canst thou find in the way of God.

Men will ask thee of ‘the Hour.’ SAY: The knowledge of it is with God alone: and who can tell thee whether haply the Hour be not nigh at hand?

Verily, God hath cursed the Infidels, and hath got ready for them the flame:

For aye shall they abide therein; none to befriend them, no helper shall they find!

On the day when their faces shall be rolled in the fire, they shall cry: ‘Oh! would that we had obeyed God, and obeyed the Apostle!’

And they shall say: ‘Oh our Lord! indeed we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the way of God—

O our Lord! give them a double chastisement, and curse them with a heavy curse.’

O Believers! be not like those who affronted Moses.²⁶ But God cleared him from what they said of him, and of God was he highly esteemed.

O Believers! fear God, and speak with well-guided speech.

That God may bless your doings for you, and forgive you your sins. And whoso obeyeth God and His Apostle with great bliss shall he be blessed.

Verily, we proposed to the Heavens, and to the Earth, and to the Mountains to receive the Faith, but they refused the burden, and they feared to receive it. Man undertook to bear it, but hath proved unjust, senseless!

Therefore will God punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women, and the men and the women who join gods with God; but to the believing men and women will God turn him: for God is Indulgent, Merciful!

Sura 34 - SABA¹

MECCA - 54 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Praise be to God! to whom belongeth all that is in the Heavens and all that is on the Earth; and to Him be praise in the next world: for he is the All-wise, the All-informed!

He knoweth what entereth into the earth, and what proceedeth from it; and what cometh down from heaven, and what goeth up into it: and He is the Merciful, the Forgiving!

‘Never,’ say the unbelievers, ‘will the Hour come upon us!’ SAY: Yea, by my Lord who knoweth the unseen, it will surely come upon you! not the weight of a mote either in the Heavens or in the Earth escapeth him; nor is there aught less than this or aught greater, which is not in the clear Book;—

To the intent that God may reward those who have believed and done the things that are right: Pardon and a noble provision shall they receive:

But as for those who aim to invalidate our signs,— a chastisement of painful torment awaiteth them!

And they to whom knowledge hath been given see that what hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth, and that it guideth into the way of the Glorious one, the Praiseworthy.

But the unbelievers say to those whom they fall in with, ‘Shall we show you a man who will foretell you that when ye shall have been utterly torn and rent to pieces, ye shall be restored in a new form?

He deviseth a lie about God, or there is a djinn in him,’ but they who believe not in the next life, shall incur the chastisement, and be lost in the mazes of estrangement from God.

What! have they never contemplated that which is before them and behind them, the Heaven and the Earth? If such were our pleasure, we could sink them into that Earth, or cause a portion of that Heaven to fall upon them! herein truly is a sign for our every returning servant.

Of old bestowed we on David a gift, our special boon:— ‘Ye mountains and ye birds answer his songs of praise.’ And we made the iron soft for him:— ‘Make coats of mail, and arrange its plates; and work ye righteousness; for I behold your actions.’

And unto Solomon did we subject the wind, which travelled in the morning a month’s journey, and a month’s journey in the evening. And we made a fountain of molten brass to flow for him. And of the Djinn were some who worked in his presence, by the will of his Lord; and such of them as swerved from our bidding will we cause to taste the torment of the flame.

They made for him whatever he pleased, of lofty halls, and images, and dishes large as tanks for watering camels, and cooking pots that stood firmly. ‘Work,’ said we, ‘O family of David with thanksgiving:’ But few of my servants are the thankful!

And when we decreed the death of Solomon, nothing showed them that he was dead but a reptile of the earth that gnawed the staff which supported his corpse.² And when it fell, the Djinn perceived that if they had known the things unseen, they had not continued in this shameful affliction.³

A sign there was to SABA, in their dwelling places:— two gardens, the one on the right hand and the other on the left:—‘Eat ye of your Lord’s supplies, and give thanks to him: Goodly is the country, and gracious is the Lord!’

But they turned aside: so we sent upon them the flood of Irem;⁴ and we changed them their gardens into two gardens of bitter fruit and tamarisk and some few jujube trees.

Such was our retribution on them for their ingratitude: but do we thus recompense any except the ungrateful?

And we placed between them and the cities which we have blessed, conspicuous cities, and we fixed easy stages: ‘Travel ye through them by night and day, secure.’

But they said, ‘O Lord! make the distance between our journeys longer,’⁵— and against themselves did they act unjustly: so we made them a tale, and scattered them with an utter scattering. Truly herein are signs to everyone that is patient, grateful.

And Eblis found that he had judged truly of them: and they all except a remnant of the faithful, followed him:

Yet no power had he over them. Only we would discern him who believed in the life to come, from him who doubted of it; for thy Lord watcheth all things.

SAY: Call ye upon those whom ye deem gods, beside God: their power in the Heavens and in the Earth is not the weight of an atom — neither have they any share in either; nor hath He a helper from among them.

No intercession shall avail with Him but that which He shall Himself allow. Until when at last their hearts shall be relieved from terror, they shall say, ‘What saith your Lord?’ they shall say, ‘The Truth; and He is the High, the Great.’

SAY: Who supplieth you out of the Heavens and the Earth? SAY: God. And either we or ye have guidance, or are in palpable error!

SAY: Not as to our faults shall ye be questioned; neither shall we be questioned as to your actions.

SAY: Our Lord will gather us together: then will He judge between us in justice; for He is the Judge, the Knowing!

SAY: Show me those whom ye have united with Him as associates: Nay, rather, He is God, the Mighty, the Wise!

And we have sent thee to mankind at large, to announce and to threaten. But most men understand not.

And they say, ‘When will this threat come to pass? Tell us, if ye be men of truth.’

SAY: Ye are menaced with a day, which not for an hour shall ye retard or hasten on.

The unbelievers say, ‘We will not believe in this Koran, nor in the Books which preceded it.’ But couldst thou see when the wicked shall be set before their Lord! With reproaches will they answer one another. The weak shall say to the mighty ones, ‘But for you we had been believers:’

Then shall the mighty ones say to the weak, ‘What! was it we who turned you aside from the guidance which had reached you? Nay, but ye acted wickedly yourselves.’

And the weak shall say to the mighty ones, ‘Nay, but there was a plot by night and by day, when ye bade us believe not in God, and gave him peers.’ And they shall proclaim their repentance after they have seen the punishment! And yokes will we place on the necks of those who have not believed! Shall they be rewarded but as they have wrought?

And never have we sent a warner to any city whose opulent men did not say, ‘In sooth we disbelieve your message.’

And they said, ‘We are the more abundant in riches and in children, nor shall we be among the punished.’

SAY: Of a truth my Lord will be liberal or sparing in his supplies to whom he pleaseth: but the greater part of men acknowledge it not.

Neither by your riches nor by your children shall you bring yourselves into nearness with Us; but they who believe and do the thing that is right shall have a double reward for what they shall have done: and in the pavilions of Paradise shall they dwell secure!

But they who shall aim to invalidate our signs, shall be consigned to punishment.

SAY: Of a truth my Lord will be liberal in supplies to whom he pleaseth of his servants, or will be sparing to him: and whatever ye shall give in alms he will return; and He is the best dispenser of gifts.

One day he will gather them all together: then shall he say to the angels, ‘Did these worship you?’

They shall say, ‘Glory be to thee! Thou art our master, not these! But they worshipped the Djinn: it was in them that most of them believed.

On this day the one of you shall have no power over others for help or hurt. And we will say to the evil doers, ‘Taste ye the torment of the fire, which ye treated as a delusion.’

For when our distinct signs are recited to them, they say, ‘This is merely a man who would fain pervert you from your father’s Worship.’ And they say, ‘This (Koran) is no other than a forged falsehood.’ And the unbelievers say to the truth when it is presented to them, ‘’Tis nothing but palpable sorcery.’

Yet have we given them no books in which to study deeply, nor have we sent any one to them before thee, charged with warnings.

They also flourished before them, treated our apostles as impostors in like sort: but not to the tenth part of what we bestowed on them,⁶ have these attained. And yet when they charged my apostles with deceit, how terrible was my vengeance:

SAY: One thing in sooth do I advise you:— that ye stand up before God two and two, or singly,⁷ and then reflect that in your fellow citizen is no djinn:⁸ he is no other than your warner before a severe punishment.

SAY: I ask not any wage from you: keep it for yourselves: my wage is from God alone. And He is witness over all things!

SAY: Truly my Lord sendeth forth the Truth:— Knower of things unseen!

SAY: Truth is come, and falsehood shall vanish and return no more.

SAY: If I err, verily to my own cost only shall I err: but if I have guidance, it will be of my Lord’s revealing, for He is the Hearer, the near at hand.

Couldst thou see how they shall tremble and find no escape, and be taken forth from the place that is so near;⁹

And shall say, ‘We believe in Him!’ But how, in their present distance, shall they receive the faith,

When they had before denied it, and aimed their shafts at the mysteries from afar?¹⁰

And a gulf shall be between them and that which they shall desire —

As was done unto their likes of old, who were lost in the questionings of doubt.

Sura 35 - THE CREATOR, OR THE ANGELS

MECCA - 45 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Praise be to God, Maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! Who employeth the ANGELS as envoys, with pairs of wings, two, three, and four: He addeth to his creature what He will! Truly God hath power for all things.

The mercy which God layeth open for man, no one can keep back; and what He shall keep back, none can afterwards send forth. And He is the Mighty, the Wise.

O men! bear in mind the favor of God towards you. Is there a creator other than God, who nourisheth you with the gifts of heaven and earth? There is no God but He! How then are ye turned aside from Him?

If they treat thee as an impostor, then before thee have apostles been treated as impostors. But to God shall all things return.

O men! assuredly the promise of God is true: let not then the present life deceive you: and let not the Deceiver deceive you as to God.

Yes, Satan is your foe. For a foe then hold him. He calleth his followers to him that they may become inmates of the flame.

The unbelievers, — for them a terrible punishment!

But believers and doers of good works, for them is mercy, and a great reward!

Shall he, the evil of whose deeds are so tricked out to him that he deemeth them good, be treated like him who seeth things aright? Verily God misleadeth whom He will, and guideth whom He will. Spend not thy soul in sighs for them: God knoweth their doings.

It is God who sendeth forth the winds which raise the clouds aloft: then drive we them on to some land dead from drought,¹ and give life thereby to the earth after its death. So shall be the resurrection.

If any one desireth greatness, all greatness is in God. The good word riseth up to Him, and the righteous deed will He exalt. But a severe punishment awaiteth the plotters of evil things; and the plots of such will He render vain.

Moreover, God created you of dust — then of the germs of life — then made you two sexes: and no female conceiveth or bringeth forth without his knowledge; and the aged ageth not, nor is aught minished from man’s age, but in accordance with the Book. An easy thing truly is this to God.

Nor are the two seas² alike: the one fresh, sweet, pleasant for drink, and the other salt, bitter; yet from both ye eat fresh fish, and take forth for you ornaments to wear, and thou seest the ships cleaving their waters that ye may go in quest of his bounties, and that ye may be thankful.

He causeth the night to enter in upon the day, and the day to enter in upon the night; and He hath given laws to the sun and to the moon, so that each journeyeth to its appointed goal: This is God your Lord: All power is His: But the gods whom ye call on beside Him have no power over the husk of a date stone!

If ye cry to them they will not hear your cry; and if they they heard they would not answer you, and in the day of resurrection they will disown your joining them with God: and none can instruct thee like Him who is informed of all.

O men! ye are but paupers in need of God; but God is the Rich, the Praiseworthy!

If He please, He could sweep you away, and bring forth a new creation!

Nor will this be hard for God.

And the burdened soul shall not bear the burden of another: and if the heavy laden soul cry out for its burden to be carried, yet shall not aught of it be carried, even by the near of kin! Thou shalt warn those who fear their Lord in secret, and observe prayer. And whoever shall keep himself pure, he purifieth himself to his own behoof: for unto God shall be the final gathering.

And the blind and the seeing are not alike; neither darkness and light; nor the shade and the hot wind;

Nor are the living and the dead the same thing! God indeed shall make whom He will to hearken, but thou shalt not make those who are in their graves to hearken; for only with warning art thou charged.

Verily we have sent thee with the truth; a bearer of good tidings and a warner; nor hath there been a people unvisited by its warner.

And if they treat thee as a liar, so did those who were before them treat their Apostles who came to them with the proofs of their mission, and with the Scriptures and with the enlightening Book:³

Then chastised I the unbelievers: and how great was my vengeance!

Seest thou not how that God sendeth down water from the Heaven, and that by it we cause the up-growth of fruits of varied hues, and that on the mountains⁴ are tracks of varied hues, white and red, and others are of a raven black? And of men and reptiles and animals, various likewise are the hues. Such only of his servants as are possessed of knowledge fear God. Lo! God is Mighty, Gracious!

Verily they who recite the Book of God, and observe prayer, and give alms in public and in private from what we have bestowed upon them, may hope for a merchandise that shall not perish:

God will certainly pay them their due wages, and of his bounty increase them: for He is Gracious, Grateful,

And that which we have revealed to thee of the Book is the very Truth, confirmatory of previous Scriptures: for God knoweth and beholdeth his servants.

Moreover, we have made the Book an heritage to those of our servants whom we have chosen. Some of them injure themselves by evil deeds; others keep the midway between good and evil; and others, by the permission of God, outstrip in goodness; this is the great merit!

Into the gardens of Eden shall they enter: with bracelets of gold and pearl shall they be decked therein, and therein shall their raiment be of silk:

And they shall say, ‘Praise be to God who hath put away sorrow from us. Verily our Lord is Gracious, Grateful,

Who of His bounty hath placed us in a mansion that shall abide for ever: therein no toil shall reach us, and therein no weariness shall touch us.’

But for infidels is the fire of Hell; to die shall never be decreed them, nor shall aught of its torment be made light to them. Thus reward we every infidel!

And therein shall they cry aloud, ‘Take us hence, O our Lord! righteousness will we work, and not what we wrought of old.’ — ‘Prolonged we not your days that whoever would be warned might be warned therein? And the preacher came to you —

Taste it then.’ — There is no protector for the unjust.

God truly knoweth the hidden things both of the Heavens and of the Earth: for He knoweth the very secrets of the breast.

He hath appointed you his vicegerents in the earth: And whoever believeth not, on him shall be his unbelief; and their unbelief shall only increase for the unbelievers, hatred at the hands of their Lord: — and their unbelief shall only increase for the unbelievers their own perdition!

SAY: What think ye of the gods whom ye invoke beside God? Show me what part of the earth they have created? Had they a share in the creation of the Heavens? Have we given them a Book in which they can find proofs that they are to be called on? Nay, the wicked promise one another only deceits.

Verily God holdeth fast the Heavens and the Earth that they pass not away: and if they were passing away none could hold them back but He: for He is Kind, Gracious.

They swore by God with their mightiest oath that should a preacher come to them they would yield to guidance more than any people: but when the preacher came to them it only increased in them their estrangement,

Their haughtiness on earth and their plotting of evil! But the plotting of evil shall only enmesh those who make use of it.⁵ Look they then for aught but God’s way⁶ of dealing with the peoples of old? Thou shalt not find any change in the way of God,—

Yea, thou shalt not find any variableness in the way of God.

Have they never journeyed in the land and seen what hath been the end of those who flourished before them, though mightier in strength than they? God is not to be frustrated by aught in the Heavens or in the Earth; for He is the All-knowing, the All-mighty.

If, moreover, God should chastise men according to their deserts, He would not leave even a reptile on the back of the earth! But to an appointed time doth He respite them.

And when their time shall come, then verily God’s eye is on his servants.

Sura 36 - YA. SIN.

MECCA - 83 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

YA. SIN.¹ By the wise Koran!
Surely of the Sent Ones, Thou,
Upon a right path!
A revelation of the Mighty, the Merciful,
That thou shouldest warn a people whose fathers were not warned and therefore lived in heedlessness!

Just, now, is our sentence² against most of them; therefore they shall not believe.
On their necks have we placed chains which reach the chin, and forced up are their heads:

Before them have we set a barrier and behind them a barrier, and we have shrouded them in a veil, so that they shall not see.

Alike is it to them if thou warn them or warn them not: they will not believe.

Him only shalt thou really warn, who followeth the monition and feareth the God of mercy in secret: him cheer with tidings of pardon, and of a noble recompense.

Verily, it is We who will quicken the dead, and write down the works which they have sent on before them, and the traces which they shall have left behind them: and everything have we set down in the clear Book of our decrees.³

Set forth to them the instance of the people of the city⁴ when the Sent Ones came to it.

When we sent two unto them and they charged them both with imposture — therefore with a third we strengthened them: and they said, ‘Verily we are the Sent unto you of God.’

They said, ‘Ye are only men like us: Nought hath the God of Mercy sent down. Ye do nothing but lie.’

They said, ‘Our Lord knoweth that we are surely sent unto you;

To proclaim a clear message is our only duty.’

They said, ‘Of a truth we augur ill from you:⁵ if ye desist not we will surely stone you, and a grievous punishment will surely befall you from us.’

They said, ‘Your augury of ill is with yourselves. Will ye be warned?⁶ Nay, ye are an erring people.’

Then from the end of the city a man came running:⁷ He said, ‘O my people! follow the Sent Ones;

Follow those who ask not of you a recompense, and who are rightly guided.

And why should I not worship Him who made me, and to whom ye shall be brought back?

Shall I take gods beside Him? If the God of Mercy be pleased to afflict me, their intercession will not avert from me aught, nor will they deliver:

Truly then should I be in a manifest error.

Verily, in your Lord have I believed; therefore hear me.’⁸

—It was said to him, ‘Enter thou into Paradise:’ And he said, ‘Oh that my people knew

How gracious God hath been to me, and that He hath made me one of His honored ones.’

But no army sent we down out of heaven after his death, nor were we then sending down our angels —

There was but one shout from Gabriel, and lo! they were extinct.

Oh! the misery that rests upon my servants! No apostle cometh to them but they laugh him to scorn.

See they not how many generations we have destroyed before them?

Not to false gods is it that they shall be brought⁹ back,

But all, gathered together, shall be set before Us.

Moreover, the dead earth is a sign to them: we quicken it and bring forth the grain from it, and they eat thereof:

And we make in it gardens of the date and vine; and we cause springs to gush forth in it;

That they may eat of its fruits and of the labor of their hands. Will they not therefore be thankful?

Glory be to Him, who hath created all the sexual pairs of such things as Earth produceth,¹⁰ and of mankind themselves; and of things beyond their ken!

A sign to them also is the Night. We withdraw the day from it, and lo! they are plunged in darkness;

And the Sun hasteneth to her place of rest. This, the ordinance of the Mighty, the Knowing!

And as for the Moon, We have decreed stations for it, till it change like an old and crooked palm branch.

To the Sun it is not given to overtake the Moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day; but each in its own sphere doth journey on.

It is also a sign to them that we bare their posterity in the full-laden Ark;

And that we have made for them vessels like it on which they embark;

And if we please, we drown them, and there is none to help them, and they are not rescued,

Unless through our mercy, and that they may enjoy themselves for yet awhile.

And when it is said to them, Fear what is before you and what is behind you,¹¹ that ye may obtain mercy. . .

Aye, not one sign from among the signs of their Lord dost thou bring them, but they turn away from it!

And when it is said to them, Give alms of what God hath bestowed on you,¹² they who believe not say to the believers, ‘Shall we feed him whom God can feed if He will? Truly ye are in no other than a plain error.’

And they say, ‘When will this promise be fulfilled, if what ye say be true?’

They await but a single blast: as they are wrangling shall it assail them:

And not a bequest shall they be able to make, nor to their families shall they return.

And the trumpet shall be blown, and, lo! they shall speed out of their sepulchres to their Lord:

They shall say, ‘Oh! woe to us! who hath roused us from our sleeping place? ‘Tis what the God of Mercy promised; and the Apostles spake the truth.’

But one blast shall there be,¹³ and, lo! they shall be assembled before us, all together.

And on that day shall no soul be wronged in the least: neither shall ye be rewarded but as ye shall have wrought.

But joyous on that day shall be the inmates of Paradise, in their employ;

In shades, on bridal couches reclining, they and their spouses:

Therein shall they have fruits, and shall have whatever they require —

‘Peace!’ shall be the word on the part of a merciful Lord.

‘But be ye separated this day, O ye sinners!

Did I not enjoin on you, O sons of Adam, “Worship not Satan, for that he is your declared foe,”

But “Worship Me: this is a right path”?

But now hath he led a vast host of you astray. Did ye not then comprehend?

This is Hell with which ye were threatened:

Endure its heat this day, for that ye believed not.’

On that day will we set a seal upon their mouths; yet shall their hands speak unto us, and their feet¹⁴ shall bear witness of that which they shall have done.

And, if we pleased, we would surely put out their eyes: yet even then would they speed on with rivalry in their path: but how should they see?

And, if we pleased, we would surely transform them as they stand,¹⁵ and they would not be able to move onward, or to return.

Him cause we to stoop through age whose days we lengthen. Will they not understand?

We have not taught him (Muhammad) poetry,¹⁶ nor would it beseem him. This Book is no other than a warning and a clear Koran,

To warn whoever liveth; and, that against the Infidels sentence may be justly given.

See they not that we have created for them among the things which our hands have wrought, the animals of which they are masters?

And that we have subjected them unto them? And on some they ride, and of others they eat;

And they find in them profitable uses and beverages:

Yet have they taken other gods beside God that they might be helpful to them.

No power have they to succor them: yet are their votaries an army at their service.

Let not their speech grieve thee: We know what they hide and what they bring to light.

Doth not man perceive that we have created him of the moist germs of life? Yet lo! is he an open caviller.

And he meeteth us with arguments,¹⁷ and forgetteth his creation: ‘Who,’ saith he, ‘shall give life to bones when they are rotten?’

SAY: He shall give life to them who gave them being at first, for in all creation is he skilled:

Who even out of the green tree hath given you fire,¹⁸ and lo! ye kindle flame from it.

What! must not He who hath created the Heavens and the Earth be mighty enough to create your likes? Yes! and He is the skillful creator.

His command when He willeth aught, is but to say to it, BE, and IT IS.

So glory be to Him in whose hand is sway over all things! And to Him shall ye be brought back.

Sura 37 - THE RANKS

MECCA - 182 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

By the angels ranged in order for Songs of Praise,
And by those who repel demons,¹
And by those who recite the Koran for warning,
Truly your God is but one,
Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them, and Lord of the East.²
We have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the stars.
They serve also as a guard against every rebellious Satan,

That they overhear not what passeth in the assembly on high, for they are darted at from every side,³

Driven off and consigned to a lasting torment;
While, if one steal a word by stealth, a glistening flame pursueth him.

Ask the Meccans then, Are they, or the angels whom we have made, the stronger creation? Aye, of coarse clay have we created them.

But while thou marvellest they mock;
When they are warned, no warning do they take;
And when they see a sign, they fall to mocking,
And say, ‘This is no other than clear sorcery:
What! when dead, and turned to dust and bones, shall we indeed be raised?
Our sires also of olden times?’
SAY, Yes; and ye shall be covered with disgrace.
For, one blast only, and lo! they shall gaze around them,
And shall say, ‘Oh! woe to us! this is the day of reckoning;
This is the day of decision which ye gainsaid as an untruth.’
Gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their consorts,⁴ and the gods whom they adored
Beside God; and guide them to the road for Hell.
Set them forth: they shall be questioned.
‘How now, that ye help not one another?’
But on this day they shall submit themselves to God,
And shall address one another with mutual reproaches.
They shall say, ‘In sooth, ye came to us in well-omened sort:’⁵

But they will answer, ‘Nay, it was ye who would not believe; and we had no power whatever over you. Nay, ye were people given to transgress;

Just, therefore, is the doom which our Lord hath passed upon us.⁶ We shall surely taste it:
We made you err, for we had erred ourselves.’
Partners therefore shall they be in punishment on that day.
Truly, thus will we deal with the wicked,
Because when it was said to them, There is no God but God, they swelled with pride,
And said, ‘Shall we then abandon our gods for a crazed poet?’
Nay, he cometh with truth and confirmeth the Sent Ones of old.
Ye shall surely taste the painful punishment,
And ye shall not be rewarded but as ye have wrought,
Save the sincere servants of God!
A stated banquet shall they have
Of fruits; and honored shall they be
In the gardens of delight,
Upon couches face to face.
A cup shall be borne round among them from a fountain,
Limpid, delicious to those who drink;
It shall not oppress the sense, nor shall they therewith be drunken.

And with them are the large-eyed ones with modest refraining glances, fair like the sheltered egg.⁷

And they shall address one another with mutual questions.
Saith one of them, ‘I truly had a bosom friend,
Who said, “Art thou of those who credit it?
What! when we shall have died, and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be judged?”’
He shall say to those around him, ‘Will ye look?’
And he shall look and see him in the midst of Hell.
And he shall say to him, ‘By God, thou hadst almost caused me to perish;

And, but for the favor of my Lord, I had surely been of those who have been brought with thee into torment.’

‘But do we not die,’ say the blessed,
‘Any other than our first death? and have we escaped the torment?’⁸
This truly is the great felicity!
For the like of this should the travailers travail!
Is this the better repast or the tree Ez-zakkoum?
Verily, we have made it for a subject of discord to the wicked.
It is a tree which cometh up from the bottom of hell;
Its fruits is as it were the heads of Satans;
And, lo! the damned shall surely eat of it and fill their bellies with it:
Then shall they have, thereon, a mixture of boiling water:
Then shall they return to hell.
They found their fathers erring,
And they hastened on in their footsteps.
Also before them the greater number of the ancients had erred,
Though we had sent warners among them.
But see what was the end of these warned ones,
Except of God’s true servants.
Noah called on us of old, and right prompt were we to hear him,⁹
And we saved him and his family out of the great distress,
And we made his offspring the survivors;
And we left for him with posterity,
‘Peace be on Noah throughout the Worlds!’
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For he was one of our believing servants;—
And the rest we drowned.
And truly, of his faith was Abraham,
When he brought to his Lord a perfect heart,
When he said to his father and to his people, ‘What is this ye worship?
Prefer ye with falsehood gods to God?
And what deem ye of the Lord of the worlds?’
So gazing he gazed towards the stars,
And said, ‘In sooth I am ill:¹⁰
And they turned their back on him and departed.
He went aside to their gods and said, ‘Do ye not eat?
What aileth you that ye do not speak?’
He broke out upon them, with the right hand striking:
When his tribesmen came back to him with hasty steps —
He said, ‘Worship ye what ye carve,
When God hath created you, and that ye make?’
They said, ‘Build up a pyre for him and cast him into the glowing flame.’
Fain would they plot against him, but we brought them low.
And he said, ‘Verily, I repair to my Lord who will guide me:
O Lord give me a son, of the righteous.’
We announced to him a youth of meekness.
And when he became a full-grown youth,¹¹

His father said to him, ‘My son, I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee; therefore, consider what thou seest right.’

He said, ‘My father, do what thou art bidden; of the patient, if God please, shalt thou find me.’
And when they had surrendered them to the will of God, he laid him down upon his forehead:
We cried unto him, ‘O Abraham!
Now hast thou satisfied the vision.’ See how we recompense the righteous.
This was indeed a decisive test.
And we ransomed his son with a costly¹² victim,
And we left this¹³ for him among posterity,
‘PEACE BE ON ABRAHAM!’
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For he was of our believing servants.
And we announced Isaac to him — a righteous Prophet —

And on him and on Isaac we bestowed our blessing. And among their offspring were well-doers, and others, to their own hurt undoubted sinners.

And of old,¹⁴ to Moses and to Aaron showed we favors:
And both of them, and their people, we rescued from the great distress:
And we succored them, and they became the conquerors:
And we gave them (Moses and Aaron) each the lucid book:
And we guided them each into the right way:
And we left this for each among posterity,
‘PEACE BE ON MOSES AND AARON.’
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For they were two of our believing servants.
And Elias truly was of our Sent Ones,
When he said to his people, ‘Fear ye not God?
Invoke ye Baal and forsake ye the most skillful Creator?
God is your Lord, and the Lord of your sires of old?’
But they treated him as a liar, and shall therefore be consigned to punishment,
Except God’s faithful servants.
And we left this for him among posterity,
‘PEACE BE ON ELIASIN!’¹⁵
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For he was one of our believing servants.
And Lot truly was of our Sent Ones,
When we rescued him and all his family,
Save an aged woman among those who tarried.
Afterward we destroyed the others.
And ye indeed pass by their ruined dwellings at morn
And night: will ye not then reflect?
Jonas, too, was one of the Apostles,
When he fled unto the laden ship,
And lots were cast,¹⁶ and he was doomed,
And the fish swallowed him, for he was blameworthy.
But had he not been of those who praise Us,
In its belly had he surely remained, till the day of resurrection.
And we cast him on the bare shore — and he was sick;—
And we caused a gourd-plant to grow up over him,
And we sent him to a hundred thousand persons, or even more,
And because they believed, we continued their enjoyments for a season.
Inquire then of the Meccans whether thy Lord hath daughters, and they, sons?
Have we created the angels females? and did they witness it?
Is it not a falsehood of their own devising, when they say,
‘God hath begotten’? They are indeed liars.
Would he have preferred daughters to sons?
What reason have ye for thus judging?
Will ye not then receive this warning?
Have ye a clear proof for them?
Produce your Book if ye speak truth.

And they make him to be of kin with the Djinn: but the Djinn have long known that these idolaters shall be brought up before God.

Far be the glory of God from what they impute to him.
‘His faithful servants do not thus.
Moreover, ye and what ye worship
Shall not stir up any against God,¹⁷
Save him who shall burn in Hell.
And verily each one of us hath his appointed place,
And we range ourselves in order,
And we celebrate His praises.’¹⁸
And if those infidels say,
‘Had we a revelation transmitted to us from those of old,¹⁹
We had surely been God’s faithful servants.’
Yet they believe not the Koran. But they shall know its truth at last.
Our word came of old to our servants the apostles,
That they should surely be the succored,
And that our armies should procure the victory for them.
Turn aside therefore from them for a time,
And behold them, for they too shall in the end behold their doom.
Would they then hasten our vengeance?

But when it shall come down into their courts, an evil morning shall it be to those who have had their warning.

Turn aside from them therefore for a time.
And behold; for they too shall in the end behold their doom.
Far be the glory of thy Lord, the Lord of all greatness, from what they impute to him,
And peace be on his Apostles!
And praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds.

Sura 38 - SAD

MECCA - 88 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

SAD.¹ By the Koran full of warning! In sooth the Infidels are absorbed in pride, in contention with thee.

How many generations have we destroyed before them! And they cried for mercy but no time was it of escape!

And they marvel that a warner from among themselves hath come to them; and the Infidels say, ‘This is a sorcerer, a liar:

Maketh he the gods to be but one god? A strange thing forsooth is this!’

And their chiefs took themselves off. ‘Go, said they, and cleave steadfastly² to your gods. Ye see the thing aimed at.

We heard not of this in the previous creed.³ It is but an imposture:

To him alone of us all hath a book of warning been sent down?’ Yes! they are in doubt as to my warnings, for they have not yet tasted my vengeance.

Are the treasures of the mercy of thy Lord, the Mighty, the bounteous, in their hands?

Is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth and of all that is between them theirs? Then let them mount up by cords!

Any army of the confederates⁴ shall here be routed.

Before them the people of Noah and Ad and Pharaoh the impaler⁵ treated their prophets as impostors;

And Themoud, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers in the forest: these were the confederates.

Nought did they all but charge the apostles with falsehood: Just, therefore, the retribution.

And these (Meccans) await but one single trumpet blast — There shall be no delaying it —

Yet they dare to say, ‘O our Lord! hasten our lot to us, before the day of reckoning.’

Put thou up with what they say: and remember our servant David, a man strong of hand,⁶ one who turned him to Us in penitence:

We constrained the mountains⁷ to join with him in lauds at even and at sunrise;

And the birds which flocked to him, and would all return to him oft;

And we stablished his kingdom: and wisdom, and skill to pronounce clear decisions, did we bestow on him.

Hath the story of the two pleaders⁸ reached thee, O Muhammad, when they mounted the walls of his closet?

When they entered in upon David, and he was frightened at them, they said, ‘Be not afraid; we are two opposing parties: one of us hath wronged the other. Judge therefore with truth between us, and be not unjust, but guide us to the right way.

Now this my brother had ninety and nine ewes, and I had but a single ewe; and he said, make me her keeper. And he over-persuaded me in the dispute.’

He said, ‘Certainly he hath wronged thee in asking for thine ewe to add her to his own ewes: and truly many associates do one another wrong — except those who believe and do the things that are right; and few indeed are they!’ And David perceived that we had tried him; so he asked pardon of his Lord, and fell down and bowed himself and repented.

So we forgave him that his sin; and truly he shall have a high rank with Us, and an excellent retreat in Paradise.

O David! verily we have made thee our vicegerent upon earth. Judge therefore between men with truth, and follow not thy passions, lest they cause thee to err from the way of God. For they who err from the way of God shall meet with a grievous chastisement, for that they have forgotten the day of reckoning.

We have not created the heaven and the earth and what is between them for nought. That is the thought of infidels; but woe to the infidels because of the fire!

Shall we treat those who believe and do the things that are right like those who propagate evil on earth? Shall we treat the God-fearing like the impious?

A blessed Book⁹ have we sent down to thee, that men may meditate its verses, and that those endued with understanding may bear it in mind.

And Solomon gave we unto David. An excellent servant, for he loved to turn him Godward.

Remember when at eventide the prancing¹⁰ chargers were displayed before him,

And he said, ‘Truly I have loved the love of earthly goods above the remembrance of my Lord, till the sun hath been hidden by the veil of darkness.¹¹

Bring them back to me.’ And he began to sever the legs and necks.

We also made trial of Solomon, and placed a phantom¹² on his throne: whereupon he returned to Us (in penitence).

He said, O my Lord! pardon me, and give me a dominion that may not be to any one beside me, for thou art the liberal giver.

So we subjected the wind to him; it ran softly at his bidding, whithersoever he directed it:

And the Satans — every builder and diver —

And others bound in chains:¹³

‘This,’ said we, ‘is our gift: be bounteous then, or withhold thy favors; no account shalt thou render.’

And his rank also is high with Us, and an excellent retreat.

And remember our servant Job when he cried to his Lord, ‘Verily, Satan hath laid on me disease and pain.’

‘Stamp,’ said we, ‘with thy foot. This¹⁴ is to wash with; cool, and to drink.’

And we gave him back his family, and as many more with them in our mercy; and for a monition to men of judgment.

And we said, ‘Take in thine hand a rod, and strike¹⁵ with it, nor break thine oath.’ Verily, we found him patient!

How excellent a servant, one who turned to Us was he!

And remember our servants Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, men of might and vision.¹⁶

With this cleansing did we cleanse them — the remembrance of the abode of Paradise.

And verily, they were, in our sight, of the elect and of the good.

And remember Ishmael and Elisha and Dhoulkefl, for all these were of the just.

This is a monition: and verily, the pious shall have a goodly retreat:

Gardens of Eden, whose portals shall stand open to them:

Therein reclining, they shall there call for many a fruit and drink:

And with them shall be virgins of their own age, with modest retiring glances:

‘This is what ye were promised at the day of reckoning.’
‘Yes! this is our provision: it shall never fail.’
Even so. But for the evil doers is a wretched home —
Hell — wherein they shall be burned: how wretched a bed!
Even so. Let them then taste it — boiling water and gore,
And other things of kindred sort!

To their leaders it shall be said, ‘This company shall be thrown in headlong with you. No greetings shall await them, for they shall be burned in the fire.’

They shall say: ‘But ye, too! there shall be no welcome for you. It was ye who prepared this for us, and wretched is the abode!’

They will say: ‘O our Lord! increase twofold in the fire, the punishment of him who hath brought this upon us.’

And they will say: ‘Why see we not the men whom we numbered among the wicked —

Whom we used to treat with scorn? Have they escaped our eyes?’¹⁷

Verily this is truth — the wrangling together of the people of the fire.

SAY: I am but a warner; and there is no God but God the One, the Almighty!

Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them,¹⁸ the Potent, the Forgiving!

SAY: this is a weighty message,¹⁹

From which ye turn aside!

Yet had I no knowledge of what passed among the celestial chiefs when they disputed,²⁰

— Verily, it hath been revealed to me only because I am a public preacher —

When thy Lord said to the angels, ‘I am about to make man of clay,²¹

And when I have formed him and breathed my spirit into him, then worshipping fall down before him.’

And the angels prostrated themselves, all of them with one accord,

Save Eblis. He swelled with pride, and became an unbeliever.

‘O Eblis,’ said God, ‘what hindereth thee from prostrating thyself before him whom my hands have made?

Is it that thou are puffed up with pride? or art thou a being of lofty merit?’

He said: ‘I am more excellent than he; me hast thou created of fire:²² of clay hast thou created him.’

He said: ‘Begone then hence: thou art accursed,²³
And lo! my ban shall be on thee till the day of the reckoning.’
He said: ‘O my Lord! respite me till the day of Resurrection.’
He said, ‘One then of the respited shalt thou be,
Till the day of the time appointed.’
He said: ‘I swear by thy might then that all of them will I seduce,
Save thy sincere servants among them.’

He said: ‘It is truth, and the truth I speak. From thee will I surely fill Hell, and with such of them as shall follow thee, one and all.

SAY: I ask no wage of you for this, nor am I one who intermeddleth.

Of a truth the Koran is no other than a warning to all creatures.

And after a time shall ye surely know its message.

Sura 39 - THE TROOPS

MECCA - 75 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The Book¹ sent down from God, the Mighty, the Wise!

We have sent down the Book to thee with the truth: serve thou God then, and be sincere in thy worship:

Is not a sincere worship due to God?

But they who take others beside him as lords saying, ‘We serve them only that they may bring us near to God’ — God will judge between them and the faithful, concerning that wherein they are at variance.

Verily God will not guide him who is a liar, an infidel.

Had God desired to have had a son, he had surely chosen what he pleased out of his own creation. But praise be to Him! He is God, the One, the Almighty.

For truth² hath he created the Heavens and the Earth: It is of Him that the night returneth upon the day and that the day returneth upon the night: and He controlleth the sun and the moon so that each speedeth to an appointed goal. Is He not the Mighty, the Gracious?

He created you all of one man, from whom He afterwards formed his wife; and of cattle He hath sent down to you four pairs.³ In the wombs of your mothers did He create you by creation upon creation in triple darkness. It is He who is God your Lord: the kingdom is His: There is no God but He. How then are ye so turned aside from Him?

Suppose ye render him no thanks! yet forsooth is God rich without you: but He is not pleased with thanklessness in His servants: yet if ye be thankful He will be pleased with you. The soul burdened with its own works shall not be burdened with the burden of another: hereafter shall ye return to your Lord, and he will tell you of all your works,

For he knoweth the very secrets of your breasts.

When some trouble toucheth a man, he turneth to his Lord and calleth on him: yet no sooner hath He enriched him with his favor than he forgetteth Him on whom he before had called, and setteth up peers with God, that he may beguile others from His way. SAY: Enjoy thou thyself yet a little in thine ingratitude! but thou shalt surely be one of the inmates of the fire.

Shall he who observeth the hours of the night, prostrate or standing in devotion, heedful of the life to come, and hoping for the mercy of his Lord. . .? SAY: Shall they who have knowledge and they who have it not, be treated alike? In sooth, men of understanding only will take the warning.

SAY: O my believing servants, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this world there is good: and broad is God’s earth⁴ — verily those who endure with patience shall be repaid: their reward shall not be by measure.

SAY: I am bidden to serve God with a sincere worship: and I am bidden to be the first of those who surrender themselves to him (Muslims).

SAY: Verily I fear if I rebel against my Lord the punishment of a great day.

SAY: God will I serve, presenting him with a sincere worship:

And serve ye what ye choose beside Him. SAY: The losers truly will they be who shall lose their own souls and their families on the day of resurrection: Is not this the clear ruin?

Canopies of fire shall be over them, and floors of fire beneath them. With this doth God alarm his servants: Fear ye me, then, O my servants!

But good tidings are there for those who shun the worship of Thagout and are turned to God. Cheer then with good tidings those my servants who hearken to my word and follow its excellence. These are they whom God guideth, and these are men of insight.

Him then on whom the sentence of punishment hath justly lighted — him who is doomed to the fire canst thou rescue?

But for those who fear their Lord are storied pavilions beneath which shall the rivers flow: it is the promise of God, and God will not fail in his promise.

Seest thou not that God sendeth down water from heaven, and guideth it along so as to form springs in the earth — then bringeth forth by it corn of varied sorts — then causeth he it to wither, and thou seest it become yellow — then crumbleth it away? Lo! herein is teaching for men of insight.

Shall he then whose breast God hath opened to Islam, and who hath light from his Lord. . .? But woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of God! They plainly err.

The best of recitals hath God sent down — a book in unison with itself, and teaching by iteration.⁵ The very skins of those who fear their Lord do creep at it! Then do their skins and their hearts soften at the remembrance of their Lord! This is God’s guidance: by it will He guide whom He pleaseth; and, whom God shall mislead, no guide shall there be for him.

Shall he who shall have nought but his own face to shelter him with from the torment of the punishment on the day of the resurrection. . .? Aye, to the evil doers it shall be said, ‘Taste what ye have earned.’

They who were before them said it was a lie; but a punishment came upon them whence they looked not for it:

And God made them taste humiliation in this present life: but greater surely will be the punishment of the life to come. Did they but know it!

Now have we set before man in this Koran every kind of parable for their warning:

An Arabic Koran, free from tortuous wording, to the intent that they may fear God.

God setteth forth the comparison of a man with associates⁶ at variance among themselves, and of a man devoted wholly to a man. Are these to be held alike? No, praise be to God! But the greater part of them understand not.

Thou truly shall die, O Muhammad, and they too shall die:

Then, at the day of resurrection, ye shall wrangle with one another in the presence of your Lord.

And who acteth more unjustly than he who lieth of God, and treateth the truth when it cometh to him as a lie? Is there not a dwelling-place in Hell for the infidels?

But he who bringeth the truth, and he who believeth it to be the truth: these are the God-fearing.

Whatever they shall desire, awaiteth them with their Lord! This is the reward of the righteous;

That God may do away the guilt of their worst actions, and for their best actions render them their reward.

Is not God all-sufficient for his servant? Yet would they scare thee by their idols. But no guide shall there be for him whom God misleadeth:

And he whom God guideth shall have none to mislead him. Is not God, all-mighty, able to revenge?

And if thou ask them who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, they will surely answer, God. SAY: Think ye, then, that they⁷ on whom ye call beside God, if God choose to afflict me, could remove his affliction? or if he choose to show me mercy, could they withhold His mercy? SAY: God sufficeth me: in Him let the trusting trust.

SAY: O my people, act your part as best ye can, I too will act mine; and in the end ye shall know

On whom shall light a punishment that shall shame him, and on whom a lasting punishment shall fall.

Assuredly we have sent down the Book to thee for man and for the ends of truth. Whoso shall be guided by it — it will be for his own advantage, and whoso shall err, shall only err to his own loss. But not to thy keeping are they entrusted.

God taketh souls unto Himself at death; and during their sleep those who do not die:⁸ and he retaineth those on which he hath passed a decree of death, but sendeth the others back till a time that is fixed. Herein are signs for the reflecting.

Have they taken aught beside God as intercessors? SAY: What! though they have no power over anything, neither do they understand?

SAY: Intercession is wholly with God:⁹ His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! To him shall ye be brought back hereafter!

But when the One God is named, the hearts of those who believe not in the life to come, shrivel up: but when the deities who are adored beside Him are named, lo! they are filled with joy.

SAY: O God, creator of the Heaven and of the Earth, who knowest the hidden and the manifest, thou shalt judge between thy servants as to the subject of their disputes.

If the wicked possessed all that is in the earth and as much again therewith, verily they would ransom themselves with it from the pain of the punishment on the day of the resurrection; and there shall appear to them, from God, things they had never reckoned on:

And their own ill deeds shall be clearly perceived by them, and that fire at which they mocked shall encircle them on every side.

When trouble befalleth a man he crieth to Us; afterwards, when we have vouchsafed favor to him, he saith, ‘God knew that I deserved it.’¹⁰ Nay, it is a trial. But the greater part of them knew it not.

The same said those who flourished before them; but their deeds profited them not.

And their own ill deeds recoiled upon them. And whoso among these (Meccans) shall do wrong, on them likewise their own misdeeds shall light, neither shall they invalidate God.

Know they not that God giveth supplies with open hand, and that He is sparing to whom He will? Of a truth herein are signs to those who believe.

SAY: O my servants who have transgressed to your own hurt,¹¹ despair not of God’s mercy, for all sins doth God forgive. Gracious, Merciful is He!

And return ye to your Lord, and to Him resign yourselves, ere the punishment come on you, for then ye shall not be helped:

And follow that most excellent thing which hath been sent down to you from your Lord, ere the punishment come on you suddenly, and when ye look not for it:

So that a soul say, ‘Oh misery! for my failures in duty towards God! and verily I was of those who scoffed:’

Or say, ‘Had God guided me, I had surely been of those who feared Him:’

Or say, when it seeth the punishment, ‘Could I but return, then I would be of the righteous.’

Nay! my signs had already come to thee, and thou didst treat them as untruths, and wast arrogant, and becamest of those who believe not.

And on the resurrection day, thou shalt see those who have lied of God, with their faces black. Is there not an abode in Hell for the arrogant?

But God shall rescue those who fear him into their safe retreat: no ill shall touch them, neither shall they be put to grief.

God is the creator of all things, and of all things is He the guardian! His the keys of the Heavens and of the Earth! and — who believe not in the signs of God — these! they shall perish!

SAY: What! do ye then bid me worship other than God, O ye ignorant ones?

But now hath it been revealed to thee and to those who flourished before thee,— ‘Verily, if thou join partners with God, vain shall be all thy work, and thyself shalt be of those who perish.

Nay, rather worship God! and be of those who render thanks.’

But they have not deemed of God as is His due;¹² for on the resurrection day the whole Earth shall be but his handful, and in his right hand shall the Heavens be folded together. Praise be to Him! and high be He uplifted above the partners they join with Him!

And there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all who are in the Heavens and all who are in the Earth shall expire, save those whom God shall vouchsafe to live. Then shall there be another blast on it, and lo! arising they shall gaze around them:

And the earth shall shine with the light of her Lord, and the Book shall be set, and the prophets shall be brought up, and the witnesses; and judgment shall be given between them with equity; and none shall be wronged:

And every soul shall receive as it shall have wrought, for well knoweth He men’s actions.

And by TROOPS shall the unbelievers be driven towards Hell, until when they reach it, its gates shall be opened, and its keepers shall say to them, ‘Came not apostles from among yourselves to you, reciting to you the signs of your Lord, and warning you of the meeting with Him on this your day?’¹³ They shall say, ‘Yes.’ But just is the sentence of punishment on the unbelievers.

It shall be said to them, ‘Enter ye the gates of Hell, therein to dwell for ever;’ and wretched the abode of the arrogant!

But those who feared their Lord shall be driven on by troops to Paradise, until when they reach it, its gates shall be opened, and its keepers shall say to them, ‘All hail! virtuous have ye been: enter then in, to abide herein for ever.’

And they shall say, ‘Praise be to God who hath made good to us His promise, and hath given to us the earth as our heritage, that we may dwell in Paradise wherever we please!’ And goodly is the reward of those who travailed virtuously.

And thou shalt see the Angels circling around the Throne with praises of their Lord: and judgment shall be pronounced between them with equity: and it shall be said, ‘Glory be to God the Lord of the Worlds.’

Sura 40 - THE BELIEVER

MECCA - 85 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Ha. Mim. The Revelation (sending down) of the Book is from God the Almighty, the All-knowing,¹

Forgiver of sin, and receiver of penitence,— vehement in chastisement,

Long-suffering! There is no God but He: to Him shall be the final gathering.

None but infidels gainsay the signs of God: but let not their prosperity in the land deceive thee.

The people of Noah, and the confederates after them, have brought the charge of imposture before these Meccans: each nation schemed against their apostle to lay violent hold on him, and disputed with vain words to refute the truth. Therefore did I lay violent hold on them; and how great was my chastisement!

Thus is it that thy Lord’s sentence, that inmates shall they be of the fire, was accomplished upon the infidels.

They who bear the throne² and they who encircle it, celebrate the praise of their Lord and believe in Him, and implore forgiveness for the believers:— ‘O our Lord! thou embracest all things in mercy and knowledge; forgive, therefore, those who turn to thee and follow thy path; keep them from the pains of hell:

O our Lord! and bring them into the Gardens of Eden which thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous ones of their fathers and their wives and their children; for thou art the Allmighty, the All-wise:

And keep them from evil: for on him hast thou mercy whom on that day thou shalt keep from evil; and this will be the great felicity.

But to the infidels shall a voice cry, ‘Surely the hatred of God is more grievous than your hatred of yourselves, when ye were called to the faith, and remained unbelievers.’

They shall say, ‘Twice, O our Lord, hast thou given us death, and twice hast thou given us life:³ and we acknowledge our sins: is there no way to escape?’

‘This hath befallen you, for that when One God was proclaimed to you, ye believed not: but when partners had been united with him, ye believed: But judgment belongeth unto God, the High, the Great.’

It is He who showeth you his signs, and sendeth down supplies to you from Heaven: but none will receive warning save he who turneth to God.

Call then on God, offering him a pure worship, though the infidels abhor it.

Of exalted grade, of the throne possessed, He sendeth forth the Spirit at His own behest on whomsoever of His servants He pleaseth, that He may warn of the day of meeting,

The day when they shall come forth from their graves, when nought that concerneth them shall be hidden from God. With whom shall be the power supreme on that day? With God, the One, the Almighty.

On that day shall every soul be recompensed as it hath deserved: no injustice on that day! Verily, God will be swift to reckon.

Warn them, then, of the approaching day, when men’s hearts shall rise up, choking them, into their throats.

The evil doers shall have no friend or intercessor who shall prevail.

God knoweth the deceitful of eye, and what men’s breasts conceal.

And everything will God decide with truth: But nothing shall those gods whom men call on beside him, decide. Verily, God! the Hearer, the Beholder, He!

Have they never journeyed in this land, and seen what hath been the end of those who flourished before them? Mightier were they in strength than these Meccans, and their traces remain in the land: Yet God took them in their sins, and there was none to defend them against God.

This, because their apostles had come to them with proofs of their mission, and they believed not: so God took them in hand; for He is mighty, vehement in punishing.

Moreover we had sent Moses of old with our signs and with clear authority.

To Pharaoh, and Haman, and Karun:⁴ and they said, ‘Sorcerer, impostor.’

And when he came to them from our presence with the truth, they said, ‘Slay the sons of those who believe as he doth, and save their females alive;’ but the stratagem of the unbelievers issued only in failure.

And Pharaoh said, ‘Let me alone, that I may kill Moses; and let him call upon his Lord: I fear lest he change your religion, or cause disorder to show itself in the land.’

And Moses said, ‘I take refuge with my Lord and your Lord from every proud one who believeth not in the day of reckoning.’

And a man of the family of Pharaoh, who was a BELIEVER,⁵ but hid his faith, said, ‘Will ye slay a man because he saith my Lord is God, when he hath already come to you with proofs of his mission from your Lord? and if he be a liar, on him will be his lie:⁶ but if he be a man of truth, part at least of what he threateneth will fall upon you. Truly God guideth not him who is a transgressor, a liar.

O my people! this day is the kingdom yours, the eminent of the earth! but who shall defend us from the vengeance of God if it come on us?’ Pharaoh said, ‘I would have you see only what I see; and in a right way only will I guide you.’

Then said he who believed, ‘O my people! truly I fear for you the like of the day of the allies,⁷

The like of the state of the people of Noah and Ad and Themoud,

And of those who came after them; yet God willeth not injustice to his servants.

And, O my people! I indeed fear for you the day of mutual outcry —

The day when ye shall be turned back from the Judgment into hell. No protector shall ye have then against God. And he whom God shall mislead no guide shall there be for him.

Moreover, Joseph had come to you before with clear tokens, but ye ceased not to doubt of the message with which he came to you, until when he died, ye said, “God will by no means raise up an apostle after him.”’ Thus God misleadeth him who is the transgressor, the doubter.

They who gainsay the signs of God without authority having come to them, are greatly hated by God and by those who believe. Thus God sealeth up every proud, contumacious heart.

And Pharaoh said, ‘O Haman,⁸ Build for me a tower that I may reach the avenues,

The avenues of the heavens, and may mount to the God of Moses, for I verily deem him a liar.’

And thus the evil of his doings was made fair-seeming to Pharaoh, and he turned away from the path of truth; but the artifice of Pharaoh ended only in his ruin.

And he who believed said, ‘O my people! follow me: into the right way will I guide you.

O my people! this present life is only a passing joy, but the life to come is the mansion that abideth.

Whoso shall have wrought evil shall not be recompensed but with its like; but whoso shall have done the things that are right, whether male or female, and is a believer — these shall enter paradise: good things unreckoned shall they enjoy therein.

And, O my people! how is it that I bid you to salvation, but that ye bid me to the fire?

Ye invite me to deny God, and to join with him gods of whom I know nothing; but I invite you to the Mighty, the Forgiving.

No doubt is there that they to whom ye invite me are not to be invoked either in this world or in the world to come: and that unto God is our return, and that the transgressors shall be the inmates of the fire.

Then shall ye remember what I am saying unto you: and to God commit I my case: Verily, God beholdeth his servants.’

So God preserved him from the evils which they had planned, and the woe of the punishment encompassed the people of Pharaoh.

It is the fire to which they shall be exposed morning and evening, and on the day when ‘the Hour’ shall arrive — ‘Bring in the people of Pharaoh into the severest punishment.’

And when they shall wrangle together in the fire, the weak shall say to those who had borne themselves so proudly, ‘It is you we followed: will ye therefore relieve us from aught of the fire?’

And those proud ones shall say, ‘Verily we are all in it; for now hath God judged between his servants.’

And they who are in the fire shall say to the keepers of Hell, ‘Implore your Lord that he would give us ease but for one day from this torment.’

They shall say, ‘Came not your apostles to you with the tokens?’ They shall say, ‘Yes.’ They shall say, ‘Cry ye then aloud for help:’ but the cry of the unbelievers shall be only in vain.

Assuredly, in this present life will we succor our apostles and those who shall have believed, and on the day when the witnesses shall stand forth;

A day whereon the plea of the evil doers shall not avail them; but theirs shall be a curse, and theirs the woe of the abode in Hell.

And of old gave we Moses the guidance, and we made the children of Israel the heritors of the Book,— a guidance and warning to men endued with understanding.

Therefore be steadfast thou and patient; for true is the promise of God: and seek pardon for thy fault,⁹ and celebrate the praise of thy Lord at evening and at morning.

As to those who cavil at the signs of God without authority having reached them, nought is there but pride in their breasts: but they shall not succeed. Fly thou for refuge then to God, for He is the Hearer, the Beholder.

Greater surely than the creation of man is the creation of the heavens and of the earth: but most men know it not.

Moreover, the blind and the seeing, and the evil doer and they who believe and do the things that are right, shall not be deemed equal. How few ponder this!

Aye, ‘the Hour’ will surely come: there is no doubt of it: but most men believe it not.

And your Lord saith, ‘Call upon me — I will hearken unto you: but they who turn in disdain from my service shall enter Hell with shame.’

It is God who hath ordained the night for your rest, and the day to give you light: verily God is rich in bounties to men: but most men render not the tribute of thanks.

This is God your Lord, Creator of all things: no god is there but He: why then do ye turn away from Him?

Yet thus are they turned aside who gainsay the signs of God.

It is God who hath given you the earth as a sure foundation, and over it built up the Heaven, and formed you, and made your forms beautiful, and feedeth you with good things. This is God your Lord. Blessed then be God the Lord of the Worlds!

He is the Living One. No God is there but He. Call then upon Him and offer Him a pure worship. Praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds!

SAY: Verily I am forbidden to worship what ye call on beside God, after that the clear tokens have come to me from my Lord, and I am bidden to surrender myself to the Lord of the Worlds.

He it is who created you of the dust, then of the germs of Iife, then of thick blood, then brought you forth infants: then he letteth you reach your full strength, and then become old men (but some of you die first), and reach the ordained term. And this that haply ye may understand.

It is He who giveth life and death; and when He decreeth a thing, He only saith of it, ‘Be,’ and it is.

Seest thou not those who cavil at the signs of God? how are they turned aside!

They who treat ‘the Book,’ and the message with which we have sent our Sent Ones, as a lie, shall know the truth hereafter,

When the collars shall be on their necks and the chains to drag them into Hell: then in the fire shall they be burned.

Then shall it be said to them, ‘Where are they whom ye made the objects of joint worship with God?’ They shall say, ‘They have vanished away from us. Yea, it was nought on which we called heretofore.’ Thus God leadeth the unbelievers astray.

— ‘This for you, because of your unrighteous insolence and immoderate joys on earth.

Enter ye the portals of Hell to abide therein for ever. And, wretched the abode of the haughty ones!’

Therefore be thou steadfast in patience: for the promise of God is truth: and whether we shall make thee see part of the woes with which we threatened them, or whether we cause thee first to die, unto us shall they be brought back.

And we have already sent apostles before thee: of some we have told thee, and of others we have told thee nothing:¹⁰ but no apostle had the power to work a miracle unless by the leave of God. But when God’s behest cometh, everything will be decided with truth: and then they perish who treated it as a vain thing.

It is God who hath given you the cattle that on some of them ye may ride, and of some may eat:

(Other advantages too do ye derive from them) — and that by them ye may effect the projects ye cherish in your breasts; for on them, and on ships are ye borne:

And He showeth you His signs: which, then, of the signs of God will ye deny?

Have they not journeyed in this land, and seen what hath been the end of those who flourished before them? More were they than these in number and mightier in strength, and greater are the traces of their power remaining in the land:¹¹ yet their labors availed them nothing.

And when their apostles had come to them with the tokens of their mission, they exulted in what they possessed of knowledge; but that retribution at which they scoffed, encompassed them.

And when they beheld our vengeance they said, ‘We believe in God alone, and we disbelieve in the deities we once associated with Him.’

But their faith, after they had witnessed our vengeance, profited them not. Such the procedure of God with regard to his servants who flourished of old. And then the unbelievers perished.

Sura¹ 41 - THE MADE PLAIN

MECCA - 54 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Ha. Mim.² A Revelation from the Compassionate, the Merciful!

A Book whose verses (signs) are MADE PLAIN — an Arabic Koran, for men of knowledge;

Announcer of glad tidings and charged with warnings! But most of them withdraw and hearken not:

And they say, ‘Our hearts are under shelter from thy teachings, and in our ears is a deafness, and between us and thee there is a veil. Act as thou thinkest right: we verily shall act as we think right.’

SAY: I am only a man like you.³ It is revealed to me that your God is one God: go straight then to Him, and implore his pardon. And woe to those who join gods with God;

Who pay not the alms of obligation, and in the life to come believe not!

But they who believe and do the things that are right shall receive a perfect⁴ recompense.

SAY: Do ye indeed disbelieve in Him who in two days created the earth? and do ye assign Him peers? The Lord of the Worlds is He!

And he hath placed on the earth the firm mountains which tower above it; and He hath blessed it, and distributed food throughout it, for the cravings of all alike, in four days:

Then He applied himself to the Heaven, which then was but smoke: and to it and to the Earth He said, ‘Come ye, whether in obedience or against your will?’ and they both said, ‘We come obedient.’

And He made them seven heavens in two days, and in each heaven made known its office: And we furnished the lower heaven with lights and guardian angels. This, the disposition of the Almighty, the All-knowing.

If they turn away, then SAY: I warn you of a tempest, like the tempest of Ad and Themoud!

When the apostles came to them on every side,⁵ saying, ‘Worship none but God,’ they said, ‘Had our Lord been pleased to send down, He had surely sent down angels; and in sooth, your message we do not believe.’

As to Ad, they bore them proudly and unjustly in the land, and said, ‘Who more mighty than we in prowess?’ Saw they not that God their creator was mightier than they in prowess? And they rejected our signs.

Therefore on ill-omened days did we send against them an impetuous blast that we might make them taste the chastisement of shame in this world:— but more shameful shall be the chastisement of the life to come; and they shall not be protected.

And as to Themoud, we had vouchsafed them guidance; but to guidance did they prefer blindness; wherefore the tempest of a shameful punishment overtook them for their doings:

But we rescued the believing and the God-fearing:

And warn of the day when the enemies of God shall be gathered⁶ unto the fire urged on in bands:

Until when they reach it, their ears and their eyes and their skins shall bear witness against them of their deeds:

And they shall say to their skins, ‘Why witness ye against us?’ They shall say, ‘God, who giveth a voice to all things, hath given us a voice: He created you at first, and to Him are ye brought back.

And ye did not hide yourselves so that neither your ears nor your eyes nor your skins should witness against you: but ye thought that God knew not many a thing that ye did!

And this your thought which ye did think of your Lord hath ruined you, so that ye are become of those who perish.’

And be they patient, still the fire shall be their abode: or if they beg for favor, yet shall they not be of the favored.

And we will appoint Satans as their fast companions; for it was they who made their present and future state seem fair and right to them; and the sentence passed on the peoples of Djinn and men who flourished before them hath become their due, and they shall perish.

Yet the unbelievers say, ‘Hearken not to this Koran, but keep up a talking, that ye may overpower the voice of the reader.’

Surely therefore will we cause the unbelievers to taste a terrible punishment;

And recompense them according to the worst of their actions.

This the reward of the enemies of God,— the Fire! it shall be their eternal abode, in requital for their gainsaying our signs.

And they who believed not shall say, ‘O our Lord! show us those of the Djinn and men who led us astray: both of them will we put under our feet, that they may be of the humbled.’

But as for those who say, ‘Our Lord is God;’ and who go straight to Him,⁷ the angels shall descend to them and say, ‘Fear ye not, neither be ye grieved, but rejoice ye in the paradise which ye have been promised.

We are your guardians in this life and in the next: yours therein shall be your soul’s desire, and yours therein whatever ye shall ask for,

The hospitality of a Gracious, a Merciful One.’

And who speaketh fairer than he who biddeth to God and doth the thing that is right, and saith, ‘I for my part am of the Muslims’?

Moreover, good and evil are not to be treated as the same thing. Turn away evil by what is better, and lo! he between whom and thyself was enmity, shall be as though he were a warm friend.

But none attain to this save men steadfast in patience, and none attain to it except the most highly favored.⁸

And if an enticement from Satan entice thee, then take refuge in God, for He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

And among his signs are the night, and the day, and the sun, and the moon. Bend not in adoration to the sun or the moon, but bend in adoration before God who created them both, if ye would serve Him.

But if they are too proud for this, yet they who are with thy Lord do celebrate His praises night and day,⁹ and cease not.

And among His signs is this, that thou seest the earth drooping: but, when we send down the rain upon it, it is stirred and swelleth; verily He who giveth it life, wilt surely give life to the dead; for His might extendeth over all things.¹⁰

They truly who with obloquy disown our signs are not hidden from us. Is he then who shall be cast into the fire, or he who shall come forth secure on the day of resurrection, in the better position? Do what ye will: but His eye is on all your doings.

Verily, they who believe not in ‘the warning,’ after it hath come to them. . . and yet the Koran is a glorious book!

Falsehood, from whatever side it cometh, shall not come nigh it;¹¹ it is a missive down from the Wise, the Praiseworthy.

Nothing hath been said to thee which hath not been said of old to apostles before thee. Verily with thy Lord is forgiveness, and with Him is terrible retribution.

Had we made it a Koran in a foreign tongue, they had surely said, ‘Unless its signs be made clear. . . !¹² What! in a foreign tongue? and the people Arabian?’ SAY: It is to those who believe a guide and a medicine;¹³ but as to those who believe not, there is a thickness in their ears, and to them it is a blindness: they are like those who are called to from afar.

Of old we gave the Book to Moses, and disputes arose about it: and if a decree of respite from thy Lord had gone before, there would surety have been a decision between them: for great were their doubts and questionings about it.¹⁴

He who doth right — it is for himself: and he who doth evil — it is for himself:¹⁵ and thy Lord will not deal unfairly with his servants.

With Him alone¹⁶ is the knowledge of ‘the Hour.’ No fruit cometh forth from its coverings, neither doth any female conceive, nor is she delivered, but with His knowledge. And on that day He shall call men to Him, saying, ‘Where are the companions ye gave me?’ They shall say, ‘We own to thee, there is no one of us can witness for them.’

And what they erst called on shall pass away from them, and they shall perceive that there will be no escape for them.

Man ceaseth not to pray for good: but if evil betide him he despondeth, despairing.

And if we cause him to taste our mercy after affliction hath touched him, he is sure to say, ‘This is my due: and I take no thought of the Hour of Resurrection: and if I be brought back to my Lord, I shall indeed attain with Him my highest good.’ But we will then certainly declare their doings to the Infidels, and cause them to taste a stern punishment.

When we are gracious to man, he withdraweth and turneth him aside: but when evil toucheth him, he is a man of long prayers.

SAY: What think ye? If this Book be from God and ye believe it not, who will have gone further astray than he who is at a distance from it?

We will show them our signs in different countries and among themselves, until it become plain to them that it is the truth. Is it not enough for thee that thy Lord is witness of all things?

Are they not in doubt as to the meeting with their Lord? But doth he not encompass all things?

THE KORAN

Sura 26 - THE POETS1

MECCA - 228 VERSES

Sura 27 - THE ANT

MECCA - 95 VERSES

Sura 28 - THE STORY

MECCA - 88 VERSES

Sura 29 - THE SPIDER

MECCA - 69 VERSES

Sura 30 - THE GREEKS

MECCA - 60 VERSES

Sura 31 - LOKMAN1

MECCA - 34 VERSES

Sura 32 - ADORATION

MECCA - 30 VERSES

Sura 33 - THE CONFEDERATES1

MEDINA - 73 VERSES

Sura 34 - SABA1

MECCA - 54 VERSES

Sura 35 - THE CREATOR, OR THE ANGELS

MECCA - 45 VERSES

Sura 36 - YA. SIN.

MECCA - 83 VERSES

Sura 37 - THE RANKS

MECCA - 182 VERSES

Sura 38 - SAD

MECCA - 88 VERSES

Sura 39 - THE TROOPS

MECCA - 75 VERSES

Sura 40 - THE BELIEVER

MECCA - 85 VERSES

Sura1 41 - THE MADE PLAIN

MECCA - 54 VERSES

Sura 26 - THE POETS¹

Sura 31 - LOKMAN¹

Sura 33 - THE CONFEDERATES¹

Sura 34 - SABA¹

Sura¹ 41 - THE MADE PLAIN