THE KORAN
Sura 42 - COUNSELMECCA - 53 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Ha. Mim. Ain. Sin. Kaf.1 Thus unto thee as unto those who preceded thee doth God, the Mighty, the Wise, reveal! All that is in the Heavens and all that is in the Earth is His: and He is the High, the Great! Ready are the Heavens to cleave asunder from above for very awe: and the angels celebrate the praise of their Lord, and ask forgiveness for the dwellers on earth: Is not God the Indulgent, the Merciful? But whoso take aught beside Him as lords — God watcheth them! but thou hast them not in thy charge. It is thus moreover that we have revealed to thee an Arabic Koran, that thou mayest warn the mother city2 and all around it, and that thou mayest warn them of that day of the Gathering, of which there is no doubt — when part shall be in Paradise and part in the flame. Had God so pleased, He had made them one people and of one creed: but He bringeth whom He will within His mercy; and as for the doers of evil, no patron, no helper shall there be for them. Will they take other patrons than Him? But God is man’s only Lord: He quickeneth the dead; and He is mighty over all things. And whatever the subject of your disputes, with God doth its decision rest. This is God, my Lord: in Him do I put my trust, and to Him do I turn in penitence; Creator of the Heavens and of the Earth! he hath given you wives from among your own selves, and cattle male and female — by this means to multiply you: Nought is there like Him! the Hearer, the Beholder He! His, the keys of the Heavens and of the Earth! He giveth with open hand, or sparingly, to whom He will: He knoweth all things. To you hath He prescribed the faith which He commanded unto Noah, and which we have revealed to thee, and which we commanded unto Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying, ‘Observe this faith, and be not divided into sects therein.’ Intolerable to those who worship idols jointly with God Is that faith to which thou dost call them. Whom He pleaseth will God choose for it, and whosoever shall turn to Him in penitence will He guide to it. Nor were they divided into sects through mutual jealousy, till after that ‘the knowledge’ had come to them: and had not a decree from thy Lord gone forth respiting them to a fixed time, verily, there had at once been a decision between them.3 And they who have inherited ‘the Book’ after them, are in perplexity of doubt concerning it. For this cause summon thou them to the faith, and go straight on as thou hast been bidden, and follow not their desires: and SAY: In whatsoever Books God hath sent down do I believe: I am commanded to decide justly between you: God is your Lord and our Lord: we have our works and you have your works: between us and you let there be no strife: God will make us all one: and to Him shall we return. And as to those who dispute about God, after pledges of obedience given to Him,4 their disputings shall be condemned by their Lord, and wrath shall be on them, and theirs shall be a sore torment. It is God who hath sent down the Book with truth, and the Balance:5 but who shall inform thee whether haply ‘the Hour’ be nigh? They who believe not in it, challenge its speedy coming:6 but they who believe are afraid because of it, and know it to be a truth. Are not they who dispute of the Hour, in a vast error? Benign is God towards his servants: for whom He will doth He provide: and He is the Strong, the Mighty. Whoso will choose the harvest field of the life to come, to him will we give increase in this his harvest field: and whoso chooseth the harvest field of this life, thereof will we give him: but no portion shall there be for him in the life to come.7 Is it that they have gods who have sanctioned for them aught in the matter of religion which God hath not allowed? But had it not been for a decree of respite till the day of severance, judgment had ere now taken place among them; and assuredly the impious shall undergo a painful torment. On that day thou shalt see the impious alarmed at their own works, and the consequence thereof shall fall upon them: but they who believe and do the things that are right, shall dwell in the meadows of paradise: whatever they shall desire awaiteth them with their Lord. This, the greatest boon. This is what God announceth to his servants who believe and do the things that are right. SAY: For this ask I no wage of you, save the love of my kin. And whoever shall have won the merit of a good deed, we will increase good to him therewith; for God is forgiving, grateful. Will they say he hath forged a lie of God? If God pleased, He could then seal up thy very heart.8 But God will bring untruth to nought, and will make good the truth by his word: for He knoweth the very secrets of the breast. He it is who accepteth repentance from his servants, and forgiveth their sins and knoweth your actions: And to those who believe and do the things that are right will he hearken, and augment his bounties to them:9 but the unbelievers doth a terrible punishment await. Should God bestow abundance upon his servants, they might act wantonly on the earth: but He sendeth down what He will by measure; for he knoweth, beholdeth his servants. He it is who after that men have despaired of it, sendeth down the rain, and spreadeth abroad his mercy: He is the Protector, the Praiseworthy. Among his signs is the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth, and the creatures which he hath scattered over both: and, for their gathering together when he will, He is all-powerful! Nor happeneth to you any mishap, but it is for your own handy-work: and yet he forgiveth many things. Ye cannot weaken him on the earth: neither, beside God, patron or helper shall ye have. Among his signs also are the sea-traversing ships like mountains: if such be his will, He lulleth the wind, and they lie motionless on the back of the waves:— truly herein are signs to all the constant, the grateful;— Or if, for their ill deserts, He cause them to founder, still He forgiveth much: But they who gainsay our signs shall know that there will be no escape for them. All that you receive is but for enjoyment in this life present: but better and more enduring is a portion with God, for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord; And who avoid the heinous things of crime, and filthiness, and when they are angered, forgive; And who hearken to their Lord, and observe prayer, and whose affairs are guided by mutual COUNSEL, and who give alms of that with which we have enriched them; And who, when a wrong is done them, redress themselves:— Yet let the recompense of evil be only a like evil — but he who forgiveth and is reconciled, shall be rewarded by God himself; for He loveth not those who act unjustly. And there shall be no way open against those who, after being wronged, avenge themselves; But there shall be a way open against those who unjustly wrong others, and act insolently on the earth in disregard of justice. These! a grievous punishment doth await them. And whoso beareth wrongs with patience and forgiveth;— this verily is a bounden duty; But he whom God shall cause to err, shall thenceforth have no protector. And thou shalt behold the perpetrators of injustice, Exclaiming, when they see the torment, ‘Is there no way to return?’ And thou shalt see them when set before it, downcast for the shame: they shall look at it with stealthy glances: and the believers shall say, ‘Truly are the losers they who have lost themselves and their families on the day of Resurrection! Shall not the perpetrators of injustice be in lasting torment?’ And no other protectors shall there be to succor them than God; and no pathway for him whom God shall cause to err. Hearken then to your Lord ere the day come, which none can put back when God doth ordain its coming. No place of refuge for you on that day! no denying your own works! But if they turn aside from thee, yet we have not sent thee to be their guardian. ‘Tis thine but to preach. When we cause man to taste our gifts of mercy, he rejoiceth in it; but if for their by-gone handy-work evil betide them, then lo! is man ungrateful. God’s, the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! He createth what He will! and he giveth daughters to whom He will, and sons to whom He will: Or He giveth them children of both sexes, and He maketh whom He will to be childless; for He is Wise, Powerful! It is not for man that God should speak with him but by vision, or from behind a veil: Or, He sendeth a messenger to reveal, by his permission, what He will: for He is Exalted, Wise! Thus have we sent the Spirit (Gabriel10) to thee with a revelation, by our command. Thou knewest not, ere this, what ‘the Book’ was, or what the faith. But we have ordained it for a light: by it will we guide whom we please of our servants. And thou shalt surely guide into the right way, The way of God, whose is all that the Heaven and the Earth contain. Shall not all things return to God? 
Sura 43 - ORNAMENTS OF GOLDMECCA - 89 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Ha. Mim.1 By the Luminous Book! Wherefore we destroyed nations mightier than these Meccans in strength; and the example of those of old hath gone before! And if thou ask them who created the Heavens and the Earth, they will say: ‘The Mighty, the Sage, created them both,’ Who hath made the Earth as a couch for you, and hath traced out routes therein for your guidance; And who sendeth down out of Heaven the rain in due degree, by which we quicken a dead land; thus shall ye be brought forth from the grave: And who hath created the sexual couples, all of them, and hath made for you the ships and beasts whereon ye ride: That ye may sit balanced on their backs and remember the goodness of your Lord as ye sit so evenly thereon, and say: ‘Glory to Him who hath subjected these to us! We could not have attained to it of ourselves: And truly unto our Lord shall we return.’ Yet do they assign to him some of his own servants for offspring! Verily man is an open ingrate! Hath God adopted daughters from among those whom he hath created, and chosen sons for you? But when that3 is announced to any one of them, which he affirmeth to be the case with the God of Mercy,4 his face settleth into darkness and he is silent-sad. What! make they a being to be the offspring of God who is brought up among trinkets, and is ever contentious without reason? And they make the angels who are the servants of God of Mercy, females. What! did they witness their creation? Their witness shall be taken down, and they shall hereafter be enquired at. And they say: ‘Had the God of Mercy so willed it we should never have worshipped them.’ No knowledge have they in this: they only lie. Have we ere this given them a Book?5 and do they possess it still? But say they: ‘Verily we found our fathers of that persuasion, and verily, by their footsteps do we guide ourselves.’ And thus never before thy time did we send a warner to any city but its wealthy ones said: ‘Verily we found our fathers with a religion, and in their tracks we tread.’ SAY, — such was our command to that apostle — ‘What! even if I bring you a religion more right than that ye found your fathers following?’ And they said, ‘Verily we believe not in your message.’ Wherefore we took vengeance on them, and behold what hath been the end of those who treated our messengers as liars! And bear in mind when Abraham said to his father and to his people, ‘Verily I am clear of what ye worship, Save Him who hath created me; for he will vouchsafe me guidance.’ And this he stablished as a doctrine that should abide among his posterity, that to God might they be turned. In sooth to these idolatrous Arabians and to their fathers did I allow their full enjoyments, till the truth should come to them, and an undoubted apostle: But now that the truth hath come to them, they say, ‘’Tis sorcery, and we believe it not.’ And they say, ‘Had but this Koran been sent down to some great one of the two cities. . . !’6 Are they then the distributors of thy Lord’s Mercy?7 It is we who distribute their subsistence among them in this world’s life; and we raise some of them by grades above others, that the one may take the other to serve him: but better is the mercy of thy Lord than all their hoards. But for fear that all mankind would have become a single people of unbelievers, verily we would certainly have given to those who believe not in the God of Mercy roofs of silver to their houses, and silver stairs to ascend by; And doors of silver to their houses, and couches of silver to recline on; And ORNAMENTS OF GOLD: for all these are merely the good things of the present life; but the next life doth thy Lord reserve for those who fear Him. And whoso shall withdraw from the Warning of the God of Mercy, we will chain a Satan to him, and he shall be his fast companion: For the Satans will turn men aside from the Way, who yet shall deem themselves rightly guided; Until when man shall come before us, he shall say, ‘O Satan, would that between me and thee were the distance of the East and West.’8 And a wretched companion is a Satan. But it shall not avail you on that day, because ye were unjust: partners shall ye be in the torment. What! Canst thou then make the deaf to hear, or guide the blind and him who is in palpable error? Whether therefore we take thee off by death, surely will we avenge ourselves on them; Or whether we make thee a witness of the accomplishment of that with which we threatened them, we will surely gain the mastery over them.9 Hold thou fast therefore what hath been revealed to thee, for thou art on a right path: For truly to thee and to thy people it is an admonition; and ye shall have an account to render for it at last.10 And ask our Sent Ones whom we have sent before thee, ‘Appointed we gods beside the God of Mercy whom they should worship?’11 Of old sent we Moses with our signs to Pharaoh and his nobles: and he said, ‘I truly am the Apostle of the Lord of the Worlds.’ And when he presented himself before them with our signs, lo! they laughed at them, Though we showed them no sign that was not greater than its fellow:12 and therefore did we lay hold on them with chastisement, to the intent that they might be turned to God. Then they said, ‘O Magician! call on thy Lord on our behalf to do as he hath engaged with thee, for truly we would fain be guided.’ But when we relieved them from the chastisement, lo! they broke their pledge. And Pharaoh made proclamation among his people. Said he, ‘O my people! is not the kingdom of Egypt mine, and these rivers which flow at my feet?13 Do ye not behold? Am I not mightier than this despicable fellow, And he inspired his people with levity, and they obeyed him; for they were a perverse people: And when they had angered us, we took vengeance on them, and we drowned them all. And we made them a precedent and instance of divine judgments to those who came after them. And when the Son of Mary was set forth as an instance of divine power, lo! thy people cried out for joy thereat: And they said, ‘Are our gods or is he the better?’15 They put this forth to thee only in the spirit of dispute. Yea, they are a contentious people. Jesus is no more than a servant whom we favored, and proposed as an instance of divine power to the children of Israel. (And if we pleased, we could from yourselves bring forth Angels to succeed you on earth:)16 And he shall be a sign of the last hour;17 doubt not then of it, and follow ye me: this is the right way; And let not Satan turn you aside from it, for he is your manifest foe. And when Jesus came with manifest proofs, he said, ‘Now am I come to you with wisdom; and a part of those things about which ye are at variance I will clear up to you; fear ye God therefore and obey me. Verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; wherefore worship ye him: this is a right way.’ But the different parties18 fell into disputes among themselves; but woe to those who thus transgressed, because of the punishment of an afflictive day! For what wait they but for the hour ‘to come suddenly on them, while they expect it not’? Dishes and bowls of gold shall go round unto them: there shall they enjoy whatever their souls desire, and whatever their eyes delight in; and therein shall ye abide for ever. This is Paradise, which ye have received as your heritage in recompense for your works; For it is not we who have treated them unjustly, but it was they who were unjust to themselves. And they shall cry: ‘O Malec!19 would that thy Lord would make an end of us!’ He saith: ‘Here must ye remain.’ We have come to you with the truth (O Meccans), but most of you abhor the truth. Have they drawn tight their toils for thee?20 We too will tighten ours. Think they that we hear not their secrets and their private talk? Yes, and our angels who are at their sides write them down. SAY: If the God of Mercy had a son, the first would I be to worship him: But far be the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, the Lord of the Throne, from that which they impute to Him! Wherefore let them alone, to plunge on, and sport, until they meet the day with which they are menaced. He who is God in the Heavens is God in Earth also: and He is the Wise, the Knowing. And Blessed be He whose is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that is between them; for with Him is the knowledge of the Hour, and to Him shall ye be brought back. The gods whom they call upon beside Him shall not be able to intercede for others: they only shall be able who bore witness to the truth21 and knew it. If thou ask them who hath created them, they will be sure to say, ‘God.’ How then hold they false opinions? And one22 saith, ‘O Lord! verily these are people who believe not.’ Turn thou then from them, and say, ‘Peace:’ In the end they shall know their folly.
Sura 44 - SMOKEMECCA - 59 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Ha. Mim.1 By this clear Book! There is no God but He! — He maketh alive and killeth! — Your Lord and the Lord of your sires of old! Yet with doubts do they disport them. On the day when we shall fiercely put forth our great fierceness, we will surely take vengeance on them! Of old, before their time, had we proved the people of Pharaoh, when a noble apostle presented himself to them. ‘Send away with me,’ cried he, ‘the servants of God; for I am an apostle worthy of all credit: And exalt not yourselves against God, for I come to you with undoubted power; Therein, their first death passed, shall they taste death no more; and He shall keep them from the pains of Hell:— ‘Tis the gracious bounty of thy Lord! This is the great felicity. We have made this Koran easy for thee in thine own tongue, that they may take the warning. Therefore wait thou, for they are waiting.11
Sura 45 - THE KNEELINGMECCA - 36 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Ha. Mim.1 This Book is sent down2 from God, the Mighty, the Wise! Assuredly in the Heavens and the Earth are signs for those who believe: And in your own creation, and in the beasts which are scattered abroad are signs to the firm in faith: And in the succession of night and day, and in the supply which God sendeth down from the Heaven whereby He giveth life to the earth when dead, and in the change of the winds, are signs for a people of discernment. Such are the signs of God: with truth do we recite them to thee. But in what teaching will they believe, if they reject3 God and his signs? Woe to every lying sinner, Who heareth the signs of God recited to him, and then, as though he heard them not, persisteth in proud disdain! Apprise him of an afflictive punishment. And when he becometh acquainted with any of our signs he turneth them into ridicule. These! a shameful punishment for them! Hell is behind them! and neither their gains nor the lords whom they have adopted beside God shall avail them in the least: and theirs, a great punishment! This is ‘Guidance:’ and for those who disbelieve the signs of their Lord is the punishment of an afflictive torment. It is God who hath subjected the sea to you that the ships may traverse it at his bidding, and that ye may go in quest of the gifts of his bounty, and that ye may be thankful. And he hath subjected to you all that is in the Heavens and all that is on the Earth: all is from him. Verily, herein are signs for those who reflect. Tell the believers to pardon those who hope not for the days of God4 in which He purposeth to reward men according to their deeds. He who doth that which is right, doth it to his own behoof, and whoso doth evil, doth it to his own hurt. Hereafter, to your Lord shall ye be brought back. To the children of Israel gave we of old the Book and the Wisdom, and the gift of Prophecy, and we supplied them with good things, and privileged them above all peoples: And we gave them clear sanctions for our behests: neither did they differ, through mutual envy, till after they had become possessed of knowledge; but thy Lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection, as to the subject of their disputes. Afterwards we set thee over our divine law:5 follow it then: and follow not the wishes of those who have no knowledge, For against God shall they avail thee nothing. And in sooth, the doers of evil are one another’s patrons; but the patron of them that fear Him is God himself. This Book hath insight for mankind, and a Guidance and Mercy to a people who are firm in faith. Deem they whose gettings are only evil, that we will deal with them as with those who believe and work righteousness, so that their lives and deaths shall be alike? Ill do they judge. In all truth hath God created the Heavens and the Earth, that he may reward every one as he shall have wrought; and they shall not be wronged. What thinkest thou? He who hath made a God of his passions, and whom God causeth willfully to err, and whose ears and whose heart he hath sealed up, and over whose sight he hath placed a veil — who, after his rejection by God, shall guide such a one? Will ye not then be warned? And they say, ‘There is only this our present life: we die and we live, and nought but time destroyeth us.’ But in this they have no knowledge: it is merely their own conceit. And when our clear signs are recited to them, their only argument is to say, ‘Bring back our fathers, if ye speak the truth.’ SAY: God giveth you life, then causeth you to die: then will He assemble you on the day of resurrection: there is no doubt of it: but most men have not this knowledge. And God’s is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; and on the day when the Hour shall arrive, on that day shall the despisers6 perish. And thou shalt see every nation KNEELING: to its own book shall every nation be summoned:— ‘This day shall ye be repaid as ye have wrought. This our Book will speak of you with truth: therein have we written down whatever ye have done.’ As to those who have believed and wrought righteously, into his mercy shall their Lord cause them to enter. This shall be undoubted bliss! But as to the Infidels — ‘Were not my signs recited to you? but ye proudly scorned them, and became a sinful people.’ And when it was said, ‘Verily the Promise of God is truth; and as to the Hour, there is no doubt of it;’ ye said, ‘We know not what the hour is — we conceive it a mere conceit,— we have no assurance of it.’ And the evils they have wrought shall rise up into their view, and that at which they mocked shall hem them in on every side. And it shall be said to them, ‘This day will we forget you as ye forgot your meeting with us this day, and your abode shall be the fire, and none shall there be to succor you:— This, because ye received the signs of God with mockery, and this present life deceived you.’ On that day therefore they shall not come out from it; and they shall not be asked to win the favor of God. Praise then be to God, Lord of the Heavens and Lord of the Earth; the Lord of the Worlds! And His be the greatest in the Heavens and on the Earth; for He is the Mighty, the Wise!
Sura 46 - AL AHKAFMECCA - 35 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Ha. Mim.1 The Revelation (sending down) of this Book is from the Mighty, the Wise! We have not created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between them otherwise than in truth and for a settled term. But they who believe not, turn away from their warning. SAY: What think ye? As for those whom ye invoke beside God, show me what part of the earth it is which they have created? Had they a share in the Heavens? Bring me a Book sent down by them before this Koran, or traces of their knowledge;2— if ye are men of truth. And who erreth more than he who, beside God, calleth upon that which shall not answer him until the day of Resurrection? Yes, they regard not their invocations; And when mankind shall be assembled together, they will become their enemies, and ungratefully disown their worship. And when our clear signs are recited to them, they who believe not say of the truth when it cometh to them, ‘This is plain sorcery.’ Will they say, ‘He hath devised It?’ SAY: If I have devised the Koran, then not one single thing shall ye ever obtain for me from God! He best knoweth what ye utter in its regard! Witness enough is He between me and you! And He is the Gracious, the Merciful. SAY: I am no apostle of new doctrines: neither know I what will be done with me or you. Only what is revealed to me do I follow, and I am only charged to warn openly. SAY: What think ye? If this Book be from God, and ye believe it not, and a witness of the children of Israel3 witness to its conformity with the Law, and believe, while ye proudly disdain it. . .? Ah! God guideth not the people guilty of such a wrong! But the infidels say of the believers, ‘If it were a good Book they would not have been before us in believing it:’4 And not having submitted to guidance, they proceed to say, ‘It is an old lying legend!’ But before the Koran was the Book of Moses, a rule and a mercy; and this Book confirmeth it (the Pentateuch) — in the Arabic tongue — that those who are guilty of that wrong may be warned, and as glad tidings to the doers of good. Assuredly they who say, ‘Our Lord is God,’ and take the straight way to Him — no fear shall come on them, neither shall they be put to grief: These shall be the inmates of Paradise to remain therein for ever,— the recompense of their deeds! Moreover, we have enjoined on man to show kindness to his parents. With pain his mother beareth him; with pain she bringeth him forth: and his bearing and his weaning is thirty months; until when he attaineth his strength, and attaineth to forty years,5 he saith, ‘O my Lord! stir me up to be grateful for thy favors wherewith thou hast favored me and my parents, and to do good works which shall please thee: and prosper me in my offspring: for to thee am I turned, and am resigned to thy will’ (am a Muslim). These are they from whom we will accept their best works, and whose evil works we will pass by; among the inmates shall they be of Paradise:— a true promise which they are promised. But he who saith to his parents, ‘Fie on you both! Promise ye me that I shall be taken forth from the grave alive, when whole generations have already passed away before me?’ But they both will implore the help of God, and say, ‘Alas for thee! Believe: for the promise of God is true.’ But he saith, ‘It is no more than a fable of the ancients.’ These are they in whom the sentence passed on the nations, djinn and men, who flourished before them, is made good. They shall surely perish.6 And there are grades for all, according to their works, that God may repay them for their works; and they shall not be dealt with unfairly. And they who believe not shall one day be set before the fire. ‘Ye made away your precious gifts during your life on earth; and ye took your fill of pleasure in them: This day, therefore, with punishment of shame shall ye be rewarded, for that ye behaved you proudly and unjustly on the earth, and for that ye were given to excesses.’ Remember, too, the brother of Ad7 when he warned his people in AL AHKAF8 — and before and since his time there have been warners — ‘Worship none but God: verily I fear for you the punishment of the great day.’ They said, ‘Art thou come to us to turn us away from our Gods? Bring on us now the woes which thou threatenest if thou speakest truth.’ ‘That knowledge,’ said he, ‘is with God alone: I only proclaim to you the message with which I am sent. But I perceive that ye are a people sunk in ignorance.’ So when they saw a cloud coming straight for their valleys, they said, ‘It is a passing cloud that shall give us rain.’ ‘Nay, it is that whose speedy coming ye challenged — a blast wherein is an afflictive punishment:— It will destroy everything at the bidding of its Lord!’ And at morn nought was to be seen but their empty dwellings! Thus repay we a wicked people. With power had we endued them, even as with power have we endued you; and we had given them ears and eyes and hearts: yet neither their eyes, nor their ears, nor their hearts aided them at all, when once they gainsaid the signs of God; but that punishment which they had mocked at enveloped them on all sides. Of old, too, did we destroy the cities which were round about you; and, in order that they might return to us, we varied our signs before them. But did those whom they took for gods beside God as his kindred deities, help them?9 Nay, they withdrew from them. Such was their delusion, and their device! And remember when we turned aside a company of the djinn to thee, that they might hearken to the Koran: and no sooner were they present at its reading than they said to each other, ‘Hist;’ and when it was ended, they returned to their people with warnings. They said, ‘O our people! verily we have been listening to a book sent down since the days of Moses, affirming the previous scriptures; it guideth to the truth, and to the right way. O our people! Obey the Summoner of God, and believe in him, that He may forgive your sins, and rescue you from an afflictive punishment. And he who shall not respond to God’s preacher, yet cannot weaken God’s power on earth, nor shall he have protectors beside Him. These are in obvious error.’ See they not that God who created the Heavens and the Earth, and was not wearied with their creation, is of power to quicken the dead? Yea, he is for all things Potent. And a day is coming when the infidels shall be set before the fire. ‘Is not this it in truth?’ They shall say, ‘Aye, by our Lord.’ He said, ‘Taste then the punishment for that ye would not believe.’ Bear thou up, then, with patience, as did the Apostles endued with firmness, and seek not to accelerate their doom. For, on the day when they shall see that with which they have been menaced, It shall be as though they had waited but an hour of the day. Enough! shall any perish save they who transgress?
Sura1 47 - MUHAMMADMEDINA - 40 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Whoso believe not, and prevent others from the way of God — their works will He cause to miscarry;2 But whoso believe, and do things that are right, and believe in what hath been sent down to MUHAMMAD — for it is the truth from their Lord — their sins will He cancel, and dispose their hearts aright. This — because the infidels followed vanity, while those who believe, followed the truth from their Lord. Thus to men doth God set forth their likenesses. When ye encounter the infidels,3 strike off their heads till ye have made a great slaughter among them, and of the rest make fast the fetters. And afterwards let there either be free dismissals or ransomings, till the war hath laid down its burdens. Thus do. Were such the pleasure of God, he could himself take vengeance upon them: but He would rather prove the one of you by the other. And whoso fight for the cause of God, their works he will not suffer to miscarry; He will vouchsafe them guidance, and dispose their hearts aright; And he will bring them into the Paradise, of which he hath told them. Believers! if ye help God, God will help you, and will set your feet firm: But as for the infidels, let them perish: and their works shall God bring to nought: This — because they were averse from the command which God sent down; Fruitless, therefore, shall their works become! Have they not journeyed through the land, and seen what hath been the end of those who flourished before them? God brought destruction on them: and the like of this doth await the infidels. This — because God is the protector of those who believe, and because the infidels have no protector. Verily God will bring those who believe, and do the things that are right, into the Gardens, beneath whose shades the rivers flow: but they who believe not, take their fill, and eat as the beasts eat! And their dwelling-place the fire! And how many cities were mightier in strength than thy city, which hath thrust thee forth!4 We destroyed them, and there was none to help them. Shall he who followeth the clear teaching of his Lord be as he, the evil of whose doings hath been made to seem good to him, or like those who follow their own lusts? A picture of the Paradise which is promised to the God-fearing! Therein are rivers of water, which corrupt not: rivers of milk, whose taste changeth not: and rivers of wine, delicious to those who quaff it; And rivers of honey clarified: and therein are all kinds of fruit for them from their Lord! Is this like the lot of those who must dwell for ever in the fire? and shall have draughts of boiling water forced on them which will rend their bowels asunder? Some of them indeed hearken to thee, until when they go out from thee, they say with sneers to those to whom ‘the knowledge’ hath been given, ‘What is this he said?’ These are they whose hearts God hath sealed up, and who follow their own lusts. But as to those who have the guidance, He will increase their guidance, and He will teach them what to fear. For what do the infidels wait, but that the Hour come suddenly on them? Already are its signs come,5 and when it hath come on them indeed, how can they be warned then? Know, then, that there is no god but God: and ask pardon for thy sin, and for believers, both men and women. God knoweth your busy movements, and your final resting-places. The believers say, ‘Oh, would that a Sura were sent down!’6 but when a peremptory Sura is revealed, whose burden is war, thou mayest see the diseased of heart look towards thee, with a look of one on whom the shadows of death have fallen! But better in them would be obedience and becoming language. And if, when the command for war is issued, they are true to God, it will be assuredly best for them. Were ye not ready, if ye had turned back from Him, to spread disorder in the land, and violate the ties of blood? These are they whom God hath cursed, and made deaf, and blinded their eyes! Will they not then meditate on the Koran? Are locks upon their hearts? But as to those who return to their errors after ‘the guidance’ hath been made plain to them, Satan shall beguile them, and fill them with his suggestions. This — because they say to those who abhor what God hath sent down, ‘We will comply with you in part of what ye enjoin.’ But God knoweth their secret reservations. But how? When the angels, in causing them to die, shall smite them on the face and back! This — because they follow that which angereth God, and abhor what pleaseth Him: therefore will He make their works fruitless. Think these men of diseased hearts, that God will not bring out their malice to light? If such were our pleasure, we could point them out to thee, and thou surely know them by their tokens: and know them thou shalt, by the strangeness of their words.7 God knoweth your doings. And we will surely test you, until we know the valiant and the steadfast among you: and we will test the reports of your conduct. Verily they who believe not, and turn others from the way of God, and separate from the Apostle after that ‘the guidance’ hath been clearly shown them, shall in no way injure God: but their works shall he bring to nought. Believers! obey God and the Apostle: and render not your works vain. Verily those who believe not, and who pervert others from the way of God, and then die in unbelief, God will not forgive. Be not fainthearted then; and invite not the infidels to peace when ye have the upper hand: for God is with you, and will not defraud you of the recompense of your works. Surely this present life is only a play, and pastime! but if ye believe, fear God; He will give you your rewards: but He will not ask all your riches of you. Should He ask them of you, and urge you, ye would show yourself niggards: and He would bring your grudges to light. Lo! ye are they, who are called to expend for the cause of God: and some of you are niggards: but whoso is niggardly shall be niggard only to his own loss; for God is the Rich, and ye are the poor: and if ye turn back, He will change you for another people,8 and they shall not be your like!
Sura 48 - THE VICTORYMEDINA - 29 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Verily, We have won for thee an undoubted VICTORY1 — In token that God forgiveth thy earlier and later faults, and fulfilleth His goodness to thee, and guideth thee on the right way, And that God succoreth thee with a mighty succor. He it is who sendeth down a spirit of secure repose into the hearts of the faithful that they might add faith to their faith; (for God’s are the armies of the Heavens and of the Earth: and God is Knowing, Wise:) And that He may bring the believing men and the believing women into gardens ‘neath whose trees the rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever, and that He may cancel their evil deeds: for this is the great bliss with God: And that He may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women, and the men and women who join other gods with God, and think evil thoughts of Him. Theirs shall be a round of evil; and God is angry with them and curseth them, and hath prepared Hell for them: and, an evil journey thither! The armies of the Heavens and of the Earth are God’s, and God is Mighty, Wise! Verily, we have sent thee to be a witness and a herald of good (an announcer), and a warner, That ye may believe on God and on His Apostle; and may assist Him, and honor Him, and praise him, morning and evening. In truth, they who plighted fealty to thee, really plighted that fealty to God: the hand of God was over their hands! Whoever, therefore, shall break his oath shall only break it to his own hurt; but whoever shall be true to his engagement with God, He will give him a great reward. The Arabs who took not the field with you,2 will say to thee,3 ‘We were engaged with our property and our families; therefore ask thou pardon for us.’ They speak with their tongues what is not in their hearts. SAY: And who can have any power over God in your behalf, whether he will you some loss, or whether he will you an advantage? Yes, God is acquainted with your doings. But ye thought that the Apostle and the faithful could never more come back to their families; and your hearts were pleased at this; and ye thought an evil thought of this expedition, and ye became an undone people: For, whoso believeth not in God, and His Apostle. . . Verily, we have got ready the flame for the Infidels! And God’s is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth: Whom He will He forgiveth, and whom He will He punisheth: and God is Gracious, Merciful! They who took not the field with you will say, when ye go forth to the spoil to take it, ‘Let us follow you.’ Fain would they change the word of God.4 SAY: Ye shall by no means follow us: thus hath God said already. They will say, ‘Nay, ye are jealous of us.’ Nay! they are men of little understanding. SAY to those Arabs of the desert, who took not the field, ye shall be called forth against a people of mighty valor. Ye shall do battle with them, or they shall profess Islam. If ye obey, a goodly recompense will God give you; but if ye turn back, as ye turned back aforetime, He will chastise you with a sore chastisement. It shall be no crime on the part of the blind, the lame, or the sick, if they go not to the fight. But whoso shall obey God and His Apostle, He shall bring him into the gardens ‘neath which the rivers flow: but whoso shall turn back, He will punish him with a sore punishment. Well pleased now hath God been with the believers when they plighted fealty to thee under the tree;5 and He knew what was in their hearts: therefore did He send down upon them a spirit of secure repose, and rewarded them with a speedy victory, And with the rich booty which they took for: God is Mighty, Wise! God promised you the taking of a rich booty6 and sped it to you; and He withheld men’s hands from you, for a sign to the faithful, and that He might guide you along the right way:— And other booty, over which ye have not yet had power: but now hath God compassed them for you; for God is over all things Potent. If the Infidels shall fight against you, they shall assuredly turn their backs; then, neither protector nor helper shall they find! Such is God’s method carried into effect of old; no change canst thou find in God’s mode of dealing. And He it was who held their hands from you and your hands from them in the valley of Mecca,7 after that He had given you the victory over them: for God saw what ye did. These are they who believed not, and kept you away from the sacred Mosque, as well as the offering which was prevented from reaching the place of sacrifice. And had it not been that ye would have trodden down believers, both men and women, whom ye knew not, so that a crime might have lighted on you without your knowledge on their account, and that God would bring whom He will within His mercy, this would have been otherwise ordered. Had they been apart,8 we had surely punished such of them as believed not, with a sore punishment. When the unbelievers had fostered rage in their hearts — the rage of ignorance (of heathens) — God sent down His peace on His Apostle and on the faithful, and stablished in them the word of piety, for they were most worthy and deserving of it: and God knoweth all things. Now hath God in truth made good to His Apostle the dream9 in which he said, ‘Ye shall surely enter the sacred Mosque, if God will, in full security, having your heads shaved and your hair cut: ye shall not fear; for He knoweth what ye know not; and He hath ordained you, beside this, a speedy victory.’ It is He who hath sent His Apostle with ‘the Guidance,’ and the religion of truth, that He may exalt it above every religion. And enough for thee is this testimony on the part of God. Muhammad is the Apostle of God; and his comrades are vehement against the infidels, but full of tenderness among themselves. Thou mayst see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, imploring favors from God, and His acceptance. Their tokens10 are on their faces, the marks of their prostrations. This is their picture in the Law, and their picture in the Evangel:11 they are as the seed which putteth forth its stalk; then strengtheneth it, and it groweth stout, and riseth upon its stem,12 rejoicing the husbandman — that the infidels may be wrathful at them. To such of them as believe and do the things that are right, hath God promised forgiveness and a noble recompense.
Sura 49 - THE APARTMENTSMEDINA - 18 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful O Believers! enter not upon any affair ere God and His Apostle1 permit you; and fear ye God: for God Heareth, Knoweth.2 O Believers! raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet, neither speak loud to him as ye speak loud one to another, lest your works come to nought, and ye unaware of it. They who lower their voices in the presence of the Apostle of God, are the persons whose hearts God hath inclined to piety. Forgiveness shall be theirs and a rich reward. They who call out to thee while thou art within3 thine APARTMENTS, have most of them no right perception of what is due to thee. But if they wait patiently till thou come forth to them, it were far better for them. But God is Indulgent, Merciful. O Believers! if any bad man4 come to you with news, clear it up at once, lest through ignorance ye harm others, and speedily have to repent of what ye have done. And know that an Apostle of God is among you! should he give way to you in many matters ye would certainly become guilty of a crime. But God hath endeared the faith to you, and hath given it favor in your hearts, and hath made unbelief, and wickedness, and disobedience hateful to you. Such are they who pursue a right course. Through the bounty and grace which is from God: and God is Knowing, Wise. If two bodies of the faithful are at war, then make ye peace between them:5 and if the one of them wrong the other, fight against that party which doth the wrong, until they come back to the precepts of God: if they come back, make peace between them with fairness, and act impartially; God loveth those who act with impartiality. Only the faithful are brethren; wherefore make peace between your brethren; and fear God, that ye may obtain mercy. O Believers! let not men laugh men to scorn who haply may be better than themselves; neither let women laugh women to scorn who may haply be better than themselves!6 Neither defame one another, nor call one another by nicknames. Bad is it to be called wicked after having professed the faith:7 and whoso repent not of this are doers of wrong. O Believers! avoid frequent suspicions, for some suspicions are a crime; and pry not: neither let the one of you traduce another in his absence. Would any one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Surely ye would loathe it. And fear ye God: for God is Ready to turn, Merciful. O men! verily, we have created you of a male, and a female; and we have divided you into peoples and tribes that ye might have knowledge one of another. Truly, the most worthy of honor in the sight of God is he who feareth Him most.8 Verily, God is Knowing, Cognizant. The Arabs of the desert9 say, ‘We believe.’ SAY thou: Ye believe not; but rather say, ‘We profess Islam;’ for the faith hath not yet found its way into your hearts. But if ye obey God and His Apostle, he will not allow you to lose any of your actions: for God is Indulgent, Merciful. The true believers are those only who believe in God and His Apostle, and afterwards doubt not; and who contend with their substance and their persons on the path of God. These are the sincere. SAY: Will ye teach God about your religion? when God knoweth whatever is in the Heavens and on the Earth: yea, God hath knowledge of all things. They taunt thee with their having embraced Islam.10 SAY: Taunt me not with your having embraced Islam: God rather taunteth you with His having guided you to the faith: acknowledge this if ye are sincere. Verily, God knoweth the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth: and God beholdeth what ye do.
Sura 50 - KAFMECCA - 45 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful KAF.1 By the glorious Koran: They marvel forsooth that one of themselves hath come to them charged with warnings. ‘This,’ say the infidels, ‘is a marvellous thing: What! when dead and turned to dust shall we. . .? Far off is such a return as this?’ Now know we what the earth consumeth of them, and with us is a Book in which account is kept. But they have treated the truth which hath come to them as falsehood; perplexed therefore is their state. Will they not look up to the heaven above them, and consider how we have reared it and decked it forth, and that there are no flaws therein? And as to the earth, we have spread it out, and have thrown the mountains upon it, and have caused an upgrowth in it of all beauteous kinds of plants, For insight and admonition to every servant who loveth to turn to God: And we send down the rain from Heaven with its blessings, by which we cause gardens to spring forth and the grain of harvest, And the tall palm-trees with date-bearing branches one above the other For man’s nourishment: And life give we thereby to a dead country. So also shall be the resurrection. Ere the days of these (Meccans) the people of Noah, and the men of Rass2 and Themoud, treated their prophets as impostors: And Ad and Pharaoh, and the brethren of Lot and the dwellers in the forest, and the people of Tobba,3 all gave the lie to their prophets: justly, therefore, were the menaces inflicted. Are we wearied out with the first creation? Yet are they in doubt with regard to a new creation!4 We created man: and we know what his soul whispereth to him, and we are closer to him than his neck-vein. When the two angels charged with taking account shall take it, one sitting on the right hand, the other on the left: Not a word doth he utter, but there is a watcher with him ready to note it down: And the stupor of certain death cometh upon him:— ‘This is what thou wouldst have shunned’ — And there shall be a blast on the trumpet,— it is the threatened day! And every soul shall come,— an angel with it urging it along, and an angel to witness against it5 — Saith he, ‘Of this day didst thou live in heedlessness: but we have taken off thy veil from thee, and thy sight is becoming sharp this day.’ And he who is at this side6 shall say, ‘This is what I am prepared with against thee.’ And God will say, ‘Cast into Hell, ye twain, every infidel, every hardened one, The hinderer of the good, the transgressor, the doubter, Who set up other gods with God. Cast ye him into the fierce torment.’ He who is at his side shall say, ‘O our Lord! I led him not astray, yet was he in an error wide of truth.’ He shall say, ‘Wrangle not in my presence. I had plied you beforehand with menaces: My doom changeth not, and I am not unjust to man.’ On that day will we cry to Hell, ‘Art thou full?’ And it shall say, ‘Are there more?’7 And not far from thence shall Paradise be brought near unto the Pious: — ‘This is what ye have been promised: to every one who hath turned in penitence to God and kept his laws; Who hath feared the God of Mercy in secret, and come to him with a contrite heart: Enter it in peace: this is the day of Eternity.’ There shall they have all that they can desire: and ours will it be to augment their bliss: And how many generations have we destroyed ere the days of these (Meccans), mightier than they in strength! Search ye then the land. Is there any escape? Lo! herein is warning for him who hath a heart, or giveth ear, and is himself an eye-witness.8 We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, and no weariness touched us.9 Wherefore put up with what they say, and celebrate the praise of thy Lord before sunrise and before sunset: And praise Him in the night: and perform the two final prostrations. And list for the day whereon the crier shall cry from a place near to every one alike: The day on which men shall in truth hear that shout will be the day of their coming forth from the grave. Verily, we cause to live, and we cause to die. To us shall all return. On the day when the earth shall swiftly cleave asunder over the dead, will this gathering be easy to Us. We know best what the infidels say: and thou art not to compel them. Warn then by the Koran those who fear my menace.
Sura 51 - THE SCATTERINGMECCA - 60 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the clouds1 which scatter with SCATTERING, By the Lord then of the heaven and of the earth, I swear that is the truth, even as ye speak yourselves.3 Hath the story reached thee of Abraham’s honored guests?4 And he conceived a fear of them. They said to him, ‘Fear not;’ and announced to him a wise son. His wife came up with outcry: she smote her face and said, ‘What I, old and barren!’ But they rebelled against their Lord’s command: so the tempest took them as they watched its coming.8 They were not able to stand upright, and could not help themselves. Even thus came there no apostle to those who flourished before them, but they exclaimed, ‘Sorcerer, or Possessed.’ Have they made a legacy to one another of this scoff? Yes, they are a rebel people. Therefore to those who injure thee shall be a fate like the fate of their fellows of old. Let them not challenge me to hasten it. Woe then to the infidels, because of their threatened day.
Sura 52 - THE MOUNTAINMECCA - 49 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the MOUNTAIN, Burn ye therein: bear it patiently or impatiently ‘twill be the same to you: for ye shall assuredly receive the reward of your doings.’ But mid gardens and delights shall they dwell who have feared God, Rejoicing in what their Lord hath given them; and that from the pain of hell-fire hath their Lord preserved them. ‘Eat and drink with healthy enjoyment, in recompense for your deeds.’ On couches ranged in rows shall they recline; and to the damsels with large dark eyes will we wed them. And to those who have believed, whose offspring have followed them in the faith, will we again unite their offspring; nor of the meed of their works will we in the least defraud them. Pledged to God is every man for his actions and their desert.3 And fruits in abundance will we give them, and flesh as they shall desire: Therein shall they pass to one another the cup which shall engender no light discourse, no motive to sin: And youths shall go round among them beautiful as imbedded pearls: And shall accost one another and ask mutual questions. ‘A time indeed there was,’ will they say, ‘when we were full of care as to the future lot of our families; But kind hath God been to us, and from the pestilential torment hath he preserved us; For, heretofore we called upon Him — and He is Beneficent, the Merciful.’ Warn thou, then. For thou by the favor of thy Lord art neither soothsayer nor possessed. Have they a ladder for hearing the angels? Let any one who hath heard them bring a clear proof of it. Hath God daughters and ye sons? And should they see a fragment of the heaven falling down, they would say, ‘It is only a dense cloud.’ Leave them then until they come face to face with the day when they shall swoon away: Wait thou patiently the judgment of thy Lord, for thou art in our eye; and celebrate the praise of thy Lord when thou risest up, And in the night-season: Praise him when the stars are setting.
Sura1 53 - THE STARMECCA - 62 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the STAR when it setteth, These are mere names: ye and your fathers named them thus: God hath not sent down any warranty in their regard. A mere conceit and their own impulses do they follow. Yet hath ‘the guidance’ from their Lord come to them. Shall man have whatever he wisheth? Verily, it is they who believe not in the life to come, who name the angels with names of females: But herein they have no knowledge: they follow a mere conceit; and mere conceit can never take the place of truth. Withdraw then from him who turneth his back on our warning and desireth only this present life. This is the sum of their knowledge. Truly thy Lord best knoweth him who erreth from his way, and He best knoweth him who hath received guidance. And whatever is in the Heavens and in the Earth is God's, that he may reward those who do evil according to their deeds: and those who do good will He reward with good things. To those who avoid great crimes and scandals but commit only lighter faults, verily, thy Lord will be diffuse of mercy. He well knew you when he produced you out of the earth, and when ye were embryos in your mother’s womb. Assert not then your own purity. He best knoweth who feareth him. Hast thou considered him who turned his back?
Sura 54 - THE MOONMECCA - 55 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful The hour hath approached and the MOON hath been cleft: And they have treated the prophets as impostors, and follow their own lusts; but everything is unalterably fixed. A message of prohibition had come to them — Before them the people of Noah treated the truth as a lie. Our servant did they charge with falsehood, and said, ‘Demoniac!’ and he was rejected. Then cried he to his Lord, ‘Verily, they prevail against me; come thou
therefore to my succor.’ Easy for warning have we made the Koran — but, is there any one who receives the warning? The tribe of Themoud treated the threatenings as lies: And they said, ‘Shall we follow a single man from among ourselves? Then verily should we be in error and in folly. To him alone among us is the office of warning entrusted? No! he is an impostor, an insolent person.’ To-morrow shall they learn who is the impostor, the insolent. ‘For we will send the she-camel to prove them: do thou mark them well, O Saleh, and be patient: And foretell them that their waters shall1 be divided between themselves and her, and that every draught shall come by turns to them.’ But they called to their comrade, and he took a knife and ham-strung her. But we sent a stone-charged wind against them all, except the family of Lot, whom at daybreak we delivered, By our special grace — for thus we reward the thankful. All our miracles did they treat as impostures. Therefore seized we them as he only can seize, who is the Mighty, the Strong. Are your infidels, O Meccans, better men than these? Is there an exemption for you in the sacred Books? Will they say, ‘We are a host that lend one another aid?’
Sura 55 - THE MERCIFULMECCA - 78 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful The God of MERCY hath taught the Koran, To Him maketh suit all that is in the Heaven and the Earth. Every day doth some new work employ Him: Which, etc. O company of djinn and men, if ye can overpass the bounds of the Heavens and the Earth, then overpass them. But by our leave only shall ye overpass them: Which, etc.
Sura 56 - THE EVENTMECCA - 96 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful When the EVENT that must come shall have come suddenly,1 Then the people of the right hand3 — Oh! how happy shall be the people of the right hand! And they who were foremost on earth — the foremost still.4 Yet are we not thereby hindered14 from replacing you with others, your likes, or from producing you again in a form which ye know not! Ye have known the first creation: will ye not then reflect?
Sura 57 - IRONMEDINA1 - 29 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful All that is in the Heavens and in the Earth praiseth God, and He is the Mighty, the Wise! His the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; He maketh alive and killeth; and He hath power over all things! He is the first and the last; the Seen and the Hidden;2 and He knoweth all things! It is He who in six days created the Heavens and the Earth, then ascended His throne. He knoweth that which entereth the earth, and that which goeth forth from it, and what cometh down from Heaven, and what mounteth up to it; and wherever ye are, He is with you; and God beholdeth all your actions! His the kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth; and to God shall all things return! He causeth the night to pass into the day, and He causeth the day to pass into the night: and He knoweth the very secrets of the bosom! Believe in God and his apostle, and bestow in alms of that whereof God hath made you heirs: for whoever among you believe and give alms — theirs shall be a great recompense. What hath come to you that ye believe not in God, although the apostle exhorteth you to believe in your Lord, and He hath accepted your alliance — if ye are true believers? He it is who hath sent down clear tokens upon His servant, that He may bring you out of darkness into light; and truly, Kind, Merciful to you is God. And what hath come to you that ye expend not for the cause of God? since the heritage of the Heavens and of the Earth is God’s only! Those among you who contributed before the victory, and fought, shall be differently treated from certain others among you! Such shall have a nobler grade than those who contributed and fought after it. But a goodly recompense hath God promised to all; and God is fully informed of your actions. Who is he that will lend a generous loan to God? So will He double it to him, and he shall have a noble reward. One day thou shalt see the believers, men and women, with their light running before them, and on their right hand.3 The angels shall say to them, ‘Good tidings for you this day of gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow, in which ye shall abide for ever!’ This the great bliss! On that day the hypocrites, both men and women, shall say to those who believe, ‘Tarry for us, that we may kindle our light at yours.’ It shall be said, ‘Return ye back, and seek light for yourselves.’ But between them shall be set a wall with a gateway, within which shall be the Mercy, and in front, without it, the Torment. They shall cry to them, ‘Were we not with you?’ They shall say, ‘Yes! but ye led yourselves into temptation, and ye delayed, and ye doubted, and the good things ye craved deceived you, till the doom of God arrived:— and the deceiver deceived you in regard to God.’ On that day, therefore, no ransom shall be taken from you or from those who believe not:— your abode the fire! — This shall be your master!4 and wretched the journey thither! Hath not the time come, for those who believe, to humble their hearts at the warning of God and at the truth which he hath sent down? and that they be not as those to whom the Scriptures were given heretofore, whose lifetime was prolonged, but whose hearts were hardened, and many of them were perverse? Know that God quickeneth the earth after its death! Now have we made these signs clear to you, that ye may understand. Verily, they who give alms, both men and women, and they who lend a generous loan to God,— doubled shall it be to them — and they shall have a noble recompense. And they who believed in God and his apostle are the men of truth, and the witnesses in the presence of their Lord;5 They shall have their recompense and their light: But as for the infidels, and those who give the lie to our signs, these shall be the inmates of Hell. Know ye that this world’s life is only a sport, and pastime, and show, and a cause of vainglory among you! And the multiplying of riches and children is like the plants which spring up after rain — Their growth rejoiceth the husbandman; then they wither away, and thou seest them all yellow; then they become stubble. And in the next life is a severe chastisement, Or else pardon from God and His satisfaction: and this world’s life is but a cheating fruition.6 Vie in hasting after pardon from your Lord, and Paradise — whose outspread is as the outspread of the Heaven and of the Earth: Prepared is it for those who believe in God and His apostles: Such is the bounty of God: to whom He will He giveth it: and of immense bounty is God! No mischance chanceth either on earth or in your own persons, but ere we created them, it was in the Book;7— for easy is this to God — Lest ye distress yourselves if good things escape you, and be over joyous for what falleth to your share. God loveth not the presumptuous, the boaster, Who are covetous themselves and incite others to covetousness. But whoso turneth away from almsgiving — Ah! God is the Rich, the Praiseworthy. We have sent our apostles with the clear tokens, and we have caused the Book and the balance8 to descend with them, that men might observe fairness. And we have sent down IRON. Dire evil9 resideth in it, as well as advantage, to mankind! God would know who will assist Him and his apostle in secret. Verily, God is Powerful, Strong. And of old sent we Noah and Abraham, and on their seed conferred the gift of prophecy, and the Book; and some of them we guided aright; but many were evil doers. Then we caused our apostles to follow in their footsteps; and we caused Jesus the son of Mary to follow them; and we gave him the Evangel,10 and we put into the hearts of those who followed him kindness and compassion: but as to the monastic life, they invented it themselves. The desire only of pleasing God did we prescribe to them, and this they observed not as it ought to have been observed: but to such of them as believed gave we their reward, though many of them were perverse. O ye who believe! fear God and believe in his apostle: two portions of his mercy will He give you. He will bestow on you light to walk in, and He will forgive you: for God is Forgiving, Merciful; That the people of the Book may know that they have no control over aught of the favors of God, and that these gifts of grace11 are in the hands of God, and that He vouchsafeth them to whom he will; for God is of immense bounty.
Sura 58 - SHE WHO PLEADEDMEDINA - 22 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful God hath heard the words of HER1 WHO PLEADED with thee against her husband, and made her plaint to God; and God hath heard your mutual intercourse: for God Heareth, Beholdeth. As to those of you who put away their wives by saying, ‘Be thou to me as my mother’s back’ — their mothers2 they are not; they only are their mothers who gave them birth! they certainly say a blameworthy thing and an untruth: But truly, God is Forgiving, Indulgent. And those who thus put away their wives, and afterwards would recall their words, must free a captive before they can come together again. To this are ye warned to conform: and God is aware of what ye do. And he who findeth not a captive to set free, shall fast two months in succession before they two come together. And he who shall not be able to do so, shall feed sixty poor men. This, that he may believe in God and His Apostle. These are the statutes of God: and for the unbelievers is an afflictive chastisement! Truly they who oppose God and His Apostle shall be brought low, as those who were before them were brought low. And now have we sent down demonstrative signs: and, for the Infidels is a shameful chastisement. On the day when God shall raise them all to life, and shall tell them of their doings. God hath taken count of them, though they have forgotten them! and God is witness over all things. Dost thou not see that God knoweth all that is in the Heavens and all that is in the Earth? Three persons speak not privately together, but He is their fourth; nor five, but He is their sixth; nor fewer nor more, but wherever they be He is with them. Then on the day of resurrection He will tell them of their deeds: for God knoweth all things. Hast thou not marked those who have been forbidden secret talk, and return to what they have been forbidden, and talk privately together with wickedness, and hate, and disobedience towards the Apostle? And when they come to thee, they greet thee not as God greeteth thee:3 and they say among themselves, ‘Why doth not God punish us for what we say?’ Hell shall be their meed:4 they shall be burned at its fire: and a wretched passage thither! O Believers! when ye hold private converse together, let it not be with wickedness, and hate, and disobedience towards the Apostle; but let your private talk be with justice and the fear of God: aye, fear ye God unto whom ye shall be gathered! Only of Satan is this clandestine talk, that he may bring the faithful to grief: but, unless by God’s permission, not aught shall he harm them! in God then let the faithful trust. O ye who believe! when it is said to you, ‘Make room in your assemblies,’ then make ye room. God will make room for you in Paradise! And when it is said to you, ‘Rise up,’ then rise ye up. God will uplift those of you who believe, and those to whom ‘the Knowledge’ is given, to lofty grades! and God is cognizant of your actions. O ye who believe! when ye go to confer in private with the Apostle, give alms before such conference. Better will this be for you, and more pure. But if ye have not the means, then truly God is Lenient, Merciful. Do ye hesitate to give alms previously to your private conference? Then if ye do it not (and God will excuse it in you), at least observe prayer, and pay the stated impost, and obey God and His Apostle: for God is cognizant of your actions. Hast thou not remarked those who make friends of that people with whom God is angered? They are neither of your party nor of theirs; and they swear to a lie,5 knowing it to be such. God hath got ready for them a severe torment: for, evil is that they do. They make a cloak of their faith, and turn others aside from the way of God: wherefore a shameful torment awaiteth them. Not at all shall their wealth or their children avail them aught against God. Companions shall they be of the fire: they shall abide therein for ever. On the day when God shall raise them all, they will swear to Him as they now swear to you, deeming that it will avail them. Are they not — yes they — the liars? Satan hath gotten mastery over them, and made them forget the remembrance of God. These are Satan’s party. What! shall not verily the party of Satan be for ever lost. Verily, they who oppose God and His Apostle shall be among the most vile. God hath written this decree: ‘I will surely prevail, and my Apostles also.’ Truly God is Strong, Mighty. Thou shalt not find that any of those who believe in God, and in the last day, love him who opposeth God and His Apostle, even though they be their fathers, or their sons, or their brethren, or their nearest kin. On the hearts of these hath God graven the Faith, and with His own Spirit hath He strengthened them; and He will bring them into gardens, beneath whose shades the rivers flow, to remain therein eternally. God is well pleased in them, and they in Him. These are God’s party! Shall not, of a truth, a party of God be for ever blessed?
Sura 59 - THE EMIGRATIONMEDINA - 24 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful All that is in the Heavens and all that is on the Earth praiseth God! He, the Mighty, the Wise! He it is who caused the unbelievers among the people of the Book to quit their homes and join those who had EMIGRATED previously.1 Ye did not think that they would quit them; and they on their part thought that their fortresses would protect them against God: But God came upon them whence they looked not for Him, and cast such fear into their hearts that by their own hands as well as by the hands of the victorious believers they demolished their houses! Profit by this example ye who are men of insight! And were it not that God had decreed their exile, surely in this world would he have chastised them: but in the world to come the chastisement of the fire awaiteth them. This because they set them against God and his apostle; and whoso setteth him against God. . .! God truly is vehement in punishing. Your cutting down some of their palm-trees and sparing others was by God’s permission, and to put the wicked to shame. After the spoils of these Jews which God hath assigned to his apostle, ye pressed not with horse or camel.2 But God giveth his apostles power over what he will. God is Almighty. The spoil taken from the people of the towns and assigned by God to his apostle, belongeth to God, and to the apostle, and to his kindred, and to the orphan, and to the poor, and to the wayfarer, that none of it may circulate among such of you only as are rich: What the apostle hath given you, take: What he hath refused you, refuse: And fear ye God, for God is severe in punishing. To the poor refugees (Mohadjerin) also doth a part belong, who have been driven from their homes and their substance, and who seek favor from God and his good will, and aid God and his apostle. These are the men of genuine virtue. They of Medina who had been in possession of their abodes and embraced the faith before them, cherish those who take refuge with them; and they find not in their breasts any desire for what hath fallen to their share: they prefer them before themselves, though poverty be their own lot. And with such as are preserved from their own covetousness shall it be well. And they who have come after them into the faith say, ‘O our Lord! forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in the faith, and put not into our hearts ill-will against those who believe. O our Lord! thou verily art Kind, Merciful.’ Hast thou not observed the disaffected saying to their unbelieving brethren3 among the people of the Book, ‘If ye be driven forth, we will go forth with you; and in what concerneth you, never will we obey any one; and if ye be attacked we will certainly come to your help.’ But God is witness that they are liars. No! if they were driven forth, they would not share their banishment; if they were attacked they would not help them, or if they help them they will surely turn their backs: then would they remain unhelped. Assuredly the fear of you is more intense in their hearts than the fear of God! This because they are a people devoid of discernment. They (the Jews) will not fight against you in a body except in fenced towns or from behind walls. Mighty is their valor among themselves! thou thinkest them united — but their hearts are divided. This for that they are a people who understand not. They act like those who lately preceded them,4 who also tasted the result of their doings; and a grievous chastisement awaiteth them — Like Satan when he saith to a man, ‘Be an infidel:’ and when he hath become an infidel, he saith, ‘I share not thy guilt:5 verily, I fear God the Lord of the Worlds.’ Of both, therefore, shall the end be that they dwell for ever in the fire: This is the recompense of the evil doers. O ye who believe! fear God. And let every soul look well to what it sendeth on before for the morrow. And fear ye God: Verily, God is cognizant of what ye do. And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their proper selves. Such men are the evil doers. The inmates of the Fire and the inmates of Paradise are not to be held equal. The inmates of Paradise only shall be the blissful. Had we sent down this Koran on some mountain, thou wouldst certainly have seen it humbling itself6 and cleaving asunder for the fear of God. Such are the parables we propose to men in order that they may reflect. He is God beside whom there is no god. He knoweth things visible and invisible: He is the Compassionate, the Merciful. He is God beside whom there is no god: He is the King, the Holy, the Peaceful, the Faithful, the Guardian, the Mighty, the Strong, the Most High! Far be the Glory of God from that which they unite with Him! He is God, the Producer, the Maker, the Fashioner! To Him are ascribed excellent titles. Whatever is in the Heavens and in the Earth praiseth Him. He is the Mighty, the Wise!
Sura1 60 - SHE WHO IS TRIEDMEDINA - 13 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful O ye who believe! take not my foe2 and your foe for friends, showing them kindness, although they believe not that truth which hath come to you: they drive forth the Apostles and yourselves because ye believe in God your Lord! If ye go forth to fight on my way, and from a desire to please me, and show them kindness in private, I well know what ye conceal, and what ye discover! Whoso doth this hath already gone astray from the even way. If they meet with you they will prove your foes: hand and tongue will they put forth for your hurt, and will desire that you become infidels again. Neither your kindred nor your children shall at all avail you on the day of the resurrection. A severance between you will it make! and your actions doth God behold. A good example had ye in Abraham,3 and in those who followed him, when they said to their people, ‘Verily, we are clear of you, and of what ye worship beside God: we renounce you: and between us and you hath hatred and enmity sprung up for ever, until ye believe in God alone.’ Yet imitate not the language of Abraham to his Father, ‘I will pray for thy forgiveness, but not aught shall I obtain for thee from God.’4 O our Lord! in thee do we trust! to thee do we turn! to thee we shall come back at the last. O our Lord! expose us not for trial to the unbelievers, and forgive us: for thou art the Mighty, the Wise! A good example had ye in them, for all who hope in God and in the last day. But let who will turn back, God truly is the Rich, the Praiseworthy! God will, perhaps, establish good will between yourselves and those of them whom ye take to be your enemies:5 God is Powerful: and God is Gracious, Merciful. God doth not forbid you to deal with kindness and fairness towards those who have not made war upon you on account of your religion, or driven you forth from your homes: for God loveth those who act with fairness. Only doth God forbid you to make friends of those who, on account of your religion, have warred against you, and have driven you forth from your homes, and have aided those who drove you forth: and whoever maketh friends of them are wrong doers. O Believers!6 when believing women come over to you as refugees (Mohadjers), then make TRIAL of them. God best knoweth their faith; but if ye have also ascertained their faith, let them not go back to the infidels; they are not lawful for them, nor are the unbelievers lawful for these women. But give them back what they have spent for their dowers. No crime shall it be in you to marry them, provided ye give them their dowers. Do not retain any right in the infidel women, but demand back what you have spent for their dowers, and let the unbelievers demand back what they have spent for their wives.7 This is the ordinance of God which He ordaineth among you: and God is Knowing, Wise. And if any of your wives escape from you to the Infidels from whom ye afterwards take any spoil, then give to those whose wives shall have fled away, the like of what they shall have spent for their dowers; and fear God in whom ye believe. O Prophet! when believing women come to thee, and pledge themselves that they will not associate aught with God, and that they will not steal or commit adultery, nor kill their children, nor bring scandalous charges,8 nor disobey thee in what is right, then plight thou thy faith to them, and ask pardon for them of God: for God is Indulgent, Merciful! O Believers! enter not into amity with those against whom God is angered; they despair of the life to come, even as the Infidels despair of the inmates of the tombs.
Sura 61 - BATTLE ARRAYMEDINA - 14 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful All that is in the Heavens and all that is on the Earth praiseth God. He is the Mighty, the Wise! Believers! why profess ye that which ye practise not?1 Verily God loveth those who, as though they were a solid wall, do battle for his cause in serried lines! And bear in mind when Moses said to his people, ‘Why grieve ye me, O my people, when ye know that I am God’s apostle unto you?’ And when they went astray, God led their hearts astray; for God guideth not a perverse people: And remember when Jesus the son of Mary said, ‘O children of Israel! of a truth I am God’s apostle to you to confirm the law which was given before me, and to announce an apostle that shall come after me whose name shall be Ahmad!’2 But when he (Ahmad) presented himself with clear proofs of his mission, they said, ‘This is manifest sorcery!’ But who more impious than he who when called to Islam deviseth a falsehood concerning God? God guideth not the wicked! Fain would they put out the light of God with their mouths! but though the Infidels hate it, God will perfect his light. He it is who hath sent his apostle with guidance and the religion of truth, that, though they hate it who join other gods with God, He may make it victorious over every other religion. O ye who believe! shall I show you a merchandise that shall deliver you from the sore torment? Believe in God and his apostle, and do valiantly in the cause of God with your wealth and with your persons! This, did ye but know it, will be best for you. Your sins will He forgive you, and He will bring you into gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow — into charming abodes in the gardens of Eden: This shall be the great bliss. — And other things which ye desire will he bestow, Help from God and speedy conquest!3 Bear thou these tidings to the faithful. O ye who believe! be helpers (ansars) of God; as said Jesus the son of Mary to his apostles, ‘Who will come to the help of God?’ ‘We,’ said the apostles, ‘will be helpers of God.’ And a part of the children of Israel believed, and a part believed not. But to those who believed gave we the upperhand over their foes, and soon did they prove victorious.
Sura 62 - THE ASSEMBLYMEDINA - 11 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful All that is in the Heavens, and all that is on the Earth, uttereth the Praise of God, the King! the Holy! the Mighty! the Wise! It is He who hath sent to the pagan folk (Arabs) an Apostle from among themselves, to rehearse His signs to them, and to purify them, and to impart to them a knowledge of ‘the Book’ and wisdom; for aforetime were they in manifest error. And others among them have not yet overtaken those who preceded them in the faith. But He is the Mighty, the Wise! This is the goodness of God: He bestoweth it on whom He will: God is of immense goodness! They on whom the burden of the law was laid, and would not bear it, are like an ass beneath a load of books. A sorry likeness this, for the people who give the lie to the signs of God! God guideth not the people who do this wrong! SAY: O ye Jews, if ye profess that ye rather than other men are the friends of God, then wish for death if ye are men of truth. But never on account of their previous handywork will they wish for it, and God knoweth the wrong doers. SAY: Verily the death from which ye flee will surely meet you. Then shall ye be brought back to Him who knoweth alike the things done in secret and openly: and He will tell you of your actions. O ye who believe! When ye are summoned to prayer on the day of THE ASSEMBLY,1 haste to the commemoration of God, and quit your traffic. This, if ye knew it, will be best for you. And when the Prayer is ended, then disperse yourselves abroad and go in quest of the bounties of God; and, that it may be well with you, oft remember God. But when they get a sight of merchandise or sport, they disperse after it, and leave thee standing alone.2 SAY: God hath in reserve what is better than sport or wares. And God is the best provider!
Sura 631 - THE HYPOCRITESMEDINA - 11 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful When the Hypocrites come to thee, they say, ‘We bear witness that thou art the Sent One of God.’ God knoweth that thou art His Sent One: but God beareth witness that the HYPOCRITES do surely lie. Their faith2 have they used as a cloak, and they turn aside others from the way of God! Evil are all their doings. This, for that they believed, then became unbelievers! Therefore hath a seal been set upon their hearts, and they understand not. When thou seest them, their persons make thee marvel; and if they speak, thou listenest with pleasure to their discourse. Like timbers are they leaning against a wall!3 They think that every shout is against them. They are enemies — Beware of them then — God do battle with them! How false are they! And when it is said to them, ‘Come, the Apostle of God will ask pardon for you,’ they turn their heads aside, and thou seest them withdraw in their pride. Alike shall it be to them whether thou ask forgiveness for them, or ask it not. By no means will God forgive them: God hath no guidance for a perverse people. These are they who say to you of Medina, ‘Spend not aught upon those who are with the Apostle of God, and they will be forced to quit him.’ Yet the treasures of the Heavens and of the Earth are God’s! But the Hypocrites have no understanding. They say: ‘If we return to the city, the mightier will assuredly drive out the weaker from it.’ But might is with God, and with the Apostle, and with the Faithful! Yet the Hypocrites understand not. O ye who believe! let not your wealth and your children delude you into forgetfulness of God. Whoever shall act thus, shall surely suffer loss. And expend in the cause of God out of that with which we have supplied you, ere death surprise each one of you, and he say, ‘O Lord! wilt thou not respite me to a term not far distant, that I may give alms, and become one of the just?’ And by no means will God respite a soul when its hour hath come! And God is fully cognizant of what ye do.
Sura 64 - MUTUAL DECEITMEDINA1 - 18 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful All that is in the Heavens, and all that is in the Earth, praiseth God: His the Kingdom and His the Glory! And He hath power over all things! It is He who hath created you all; yet some of you are infidel and others believers: but God beholdeth all your actions. He hath created the Heavens and the Earth in Truth; and He hath fashioned you and given you goodly forms; and to Him must ye all return. He knoweth all that passeth in the Heavens and in the Earth; and He knoweth what ye hide and what ye bring to light; and God knoweth the very secrets of men’s breasts. Hath not the story reached you of those who disbelieved of yore, and therefore tasted the evil consequences of their doings? And a sore punishment doth await them. This, for that when their apostles came to them with the clear tokens, they said, ‘What! shall men be our guides?’ And they believed not and turned their backs. But God can dispense with them; for God is the Rich, the Praiseworthy! The infidels pretend that they shall not be raised from the dead. SAY: Yea, by my Lord, ye shall surely be raised; then shall ye surely be told of your deeds! And easy is this for God. Believe then in God and his apostle and in the light which we have sent down; for God is fully aware of all ye do. The day when He shall gather you together for the day of mutual gathering, will be the day of MUTUAL DECEIT,2 and whoso shall have believed in God and done what is right, for him will He cancel his deeds of evil; and He will bring him into the gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow, to abide therein for evermore. This will be the great bliss! But the unbelieving — those who gave the lie to our signs — shall be the inmates of the fire, wherein they shall remain for ever. And a wretched passage thither! No mischance chanceth but by God’s permission; and whoso believeth in God, that man’s heart will he guide: and God knoweth all things. Obey God then and obey the apostle: but if ye turn away, our apostle is not to blame, for he is only charged with plain preaching. God! there is no God but He! On God, then, let the faithful trust. O ye who believe! Verily, in your wives and your children ye have an enemy: wherefore beware of them. But if ye pass it3 over and pardon, and are lenient, then God too is Lenient, Merciful. Your wealth and your children are only a source of trial! but God! with Him is the great recompense. Fear God, then, with all your might, and hear and obey: and give alms for your own weal; for such as are saved from their own greed, shall prosper. If ye lend God a generous loan, He will double it to you and will forgive you, for God is Grateful, Long-suffering. He knoweth alike the Hidden and the Manifest: the Mighty, the Wise!
Sura 65 - DIVORCE1MECCA - 12 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful O Prophet! when ye divorce women, divorce them at their special times. And reckon those times exactly, and fear God your Lord. Put them not forth from their houses, nor allow them to depart, unless they have committed a proven adultery. This is the precept of God; and whoso transgresseth the precept of God, assuredly imperilleth his own self. Thou knowest not whether, after this, God may not cause something new to occur which may bring you together again. And when they have reached their set time, then either keep them with kindness, or in kindness part from them. And take upright witnesses from among you, and bear witness as unto God. This is a caution for him who believeth in God and in the latter day. And whoso feareth God, to him will He grant a prosperous issue, and will provide for him whence he reckoned not upon it. And for him who putteth his trust in Him will God be allsufficient. God truly will attain his purpose. For everything hath God assigned a period. As to such of your wives as have no hope of the recurrence of their times, if ye have doubts in regard to them, then reckon three months, and let the same be the term of those who have not yet had them. And as to those who are with child, their period shall be until they are delivered of their burden. God will make His command easy to him who feareth Him. This is God’s command which He hath sent down to you: Whoso feareth God, his evil deeds will He cancel and will increase his reward. Lodge the divorced wherever ye lodge, according to your means; and distress them not by putting them to straits. And if they are pregnant, then be at charges for them till they are delivered of their burden; and if they suckle your children, then pay them their hire and consult among yourselves, and act generously: And if herein ye meet with obstacles, then let another female suckle for him. Let him who hath abundance give of his abundance; let him, too, whose store is scanty, give of what God hath vouchsafed to him. God imposeth burdens only according to the means which He hath given. God will cause ease to succeed difficulties. How many cities have turned aside from the command of their Lord and of his apostles! Therefore did we reckon with them in a severe reckoning, and chastised them with a stern chastisement; And they tasted the harmfulness of their own conduct: and the end of their conduct was ruin. A vehement chastisement hath God prepared for them! Fear God, then, O ye men of understanding!2 Believers! Now hath God sent down to you a warning! a prophet, who reciteth to you the clear signs of God, that he may bring those who believe, and do the things that are right, out of the darkness into the light. And whoso believeth in God, and doeth the things that are right, God will cause them to enter the gardens beneath which the rivers flow, to remain therein for aye! A goodly provision now hath God made for him. It is God who hath created seven heavens and as many earths.3 The Divine command cometh down through them all, that ye may know that God hath power over all things, and that God in his knowledge embraceth all things!
Sura 66 - THE FORBIDDINGMEDINA - 12 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Why,1 O Prophet! dost thou hold that to be FORBIDDEN which God hath made lawful to thee, from a desire to please thy wives, since God is Lenient, Merciful? God hath allowed you release from your oaths; and God is your master: and He is the Knowing, Wise. When the prophet told a recent occurrence as a secret to one of his wives, and when she divulged it and God informed him of this, he acquainted her with part and withheld part.2 And when he had told her of it, she said, ‘Who told thee this?’ He said, ‘The Knowing, the Sage hath told it me. ‘If ye both be turned to God in penitence, for now have your hearts gone astray. . .3 but if ye conspire against the Prophet, then know that God is his Protector, and Gabriel, and every just man among the faithful; and the angels are his helpers besides. ‘Haply if he put you both away, his Lord will give him in exchange other wives better than you, Muslims, believers, devout, penitent, obedient, observant of fasting, both known of men and virgins.’ O Believers! save yourselves and your families from the fire whose fuel is men and stones, over which are set angels fierce and mighty: they disobey not God in what He hath commanded them, but execute His behests. O ye Infidels! make no excuses for yourselves this day; ye shall surely be recompensed according to your works. O Believers! turn to God with the turning of true penitence; haply your Lord will cancel your evil deeds, and will bring you into the gardens ‘neath which the rivers flow, on the day when God will not shame the Prophet, nor those who have shared his faith: their light shall run before them, and on their right hands! they shall say, ‘Lord perfect our light, and pardon us: for thou hast power over all things.’ O Prophet! make war on the infidels and hypocrites, and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their abode! and wretched the passage to it! God setteth forth as an example to unbelievers the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot; they were under two of our righteous servants, both of whom they deceived: but their husbands availed them nought against God: and it shall be said ‘Enter ye into the fire with those who enter.’ God also holdeth forth to those who believe the example of the wife of Pharaoh,4 when she said, ‘Lord, build me an house with thee in Paradise, and deliver me from Pharaoh and his doings; and deliver me from the wicked:’ And Mary, the daughter of Imran, who kept her maidenhood, and into whose womb5 we breathed of our spirit, and who believed in the words of her Lord and His Scriptures, and was one of the devout.
Sura 67 - THE KINGDOMMECCA - 30 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Blessed be He in whose hand is the KINGDOM! and over all things is He potent: Who hath created death and life to prove which of you will be most righteous in deed; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving! Who hath created seven Heavens one above another: No defect canst thou see in the creation of the God of Mercy: Repeat the gaze: seest thou a single flaw? Then twice more repeat the gaze: thy gaze shall return to thee dulled and weary. Moreover we have decked the lowest heaven with Iights, and have placed them there to be hurled at the Satans, for whom we have prepared the torment of the flaming fire. And for those who believe not in their Lord is the torment of Hell; and horrid the journey thither! When they shall be thrown into it, they shall hear it braying:1 and it shall boil — Almost shall it burst for fury. So oft as a crowd shall be thrown into it, its keepers shall ask them, ‘Came not the warner to you?’ They shall say, Yes! there came to us one charged with warnings; but we treated him as a liar, and said, ‘Nothing hath God sent down: ye are in nothing but a vast delusion.’ And they shall say, ‘Had we but hearkened or understood, we had not been among the dwellers in the flames;’ And their sin shall they acknowledge: but, ‘Avaunt, ye dwellers in the flame.’ But pardon and a great reward for those who fear their Lord in secret! Be your converse hidden or open, He truly knoweth the inmost recess of your breasts! What! shall He not know who hath created? for He is the Subtil,2 the Cognizant. It is He who hath made the earth level for you: traverse then its broad sides, and eat of what He hath provided. — Unto Him shall be the resurrection. What! are ye sure that He who is in Heaven will not cleave the Earth beneath you? And lo, it shall quake. Or are ye sure that He who is in Heaven will not send against you a stone-charged whirlwind? Then shall ye know what my warning meant! And verily, those who flourish before you treated their prophets as liars: and how grievous my wrath! Behold they not the birds over their heads, outstretching and drawing in their wings? None, save the God of Mercy, upholdeth them: for he regardeth all things. Who is he that can be as an army to you, to succor you, except the God of Mercy? Truly, the infidels are in the merest delusion. Or who is he that will furnish you supplies, if He withhold His supplies? Yet do they persist in pride and in fleeing from Him! Is he who goeth along grovelling on his face, better guided than he who goeth upright on a straight path? SAY: It is He who hath brought you forth, and gifted you with hearing and sight and heart: yet how few are grateful! SAY: It is He who hath sown you in the earth, and to Him shall ye be gathered. And they say, ‘When shall this threat be put in force, if ye speak the truth?’ SAY: Nay truly, this knowledge is with God alone: and I am only an open warner. But when they shall see it nigh, sad shall wax the countenances of the infidels: and it shall be said, ‘This is what ye have been calling for.’ SAY: What think ye? Whether God destroy me or not, and those who follow me, or whether he have mercy on us, yet who will protect the infidels from a woeful torment? SAY: He is the God of Mercy: in Him do we believe, and in Him put we our trust; and ye shall know hereafter who is in a manifest error. SAY: What think ye? If at early morn your waters shall have sunk away, who then will give you clear running water?
Sura 68 - THE PENMECCA - 52 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Nun.1 By the PEN2 and by what they write, Now thy Lord! well knoweth He the man who erreth from his path, and well doth he know those who have yielded to Guidance; Give not place, therefore, to those who treat thee as a liar: Verily, we have proved them (the Meccans) as we proved the owners of the garden, when they swore that at morn they would cut its fruits; But added no reserve.5 Haply our Lord will give us in exchange a better garden than this: verily we crave it of our Lord.’ Such hath been our chastisement — but heavier shall be the chastisement of the next world. Ah! did they but know it. Verily, for the God-fearing are gardens of delight in the presence of their Lord. Shall we then deal with those who have surrendered themselves to God, as with those who offend him? What hath befallen you that ye thus judge? Or have ye received oaths which shall bind Us even until the day of the resurrection, that ye shall have what yourselves judge right? Ask them which of them will guarantee this? Or is it that they have joined gods with God? let them produce those associate-gods of theirs, if they speak truth. On the day when men’s legs shall be bared,6 and they shall be called upon to bow in adoration, they shall not be able: Their looks shall be downcast: shame shall cover them: because, while yet in safety, they were invited to bow in worship, but would not obey. Leave me alone therefore with him who chargeth this revelation with imposture. We will lead them by degrees to their ruin; by ways which they know not; Yet will I bear long with them; for my plan is sure. Patiently then await the judgment of thy Lord, and be not like him who was in the fish,7 when in deep distress he cried to God. Had not favor from his Lord reached him, cast forth would he have been on the naked shore, overwhelmed with shame: But his Lord chose him and made him of the just. Almost would the infidels strike thee down with their very looks when they hear the warning of the Koran. And they say, ‘He is certainly possessed.’ Yet is it nothing less than a warning for all creatures.
Sura 69 - THE INEVITABLEMECCA - 52 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful The INEVITABLE! It did the bidding of God3 against them seven nights and eight days together, during which thou mightest have seen the people laid low, as though they had been the trunks of hollow palms; And couldst thou have seen one of them surviving? Pharaoh also, and those who flourished before him, and the overthrown cities, committed sin,— And disobeyed the Sent one of their Lord; therefore did he chastise them with an accumulated chastisement. When the Flood rose high, we bore you in the Ark, That we might make that event a warning to you, and that the retaining ear might retain it. But when one blast shall be blown on the trumpet, And the earth and the mountains shall be upheaved, and shall both be crushed into dust at a single crushing, On that day the woe that must come suddenly shall suddenly come,4 And the heaven shall cleave asunder, for on that day it shall be fragile; And the angels shall be on its sides, and over them on that day eight shall bear up the throne of thy Lord. On that day ye shall be brought before Him: none of your hidden deeds shall remain hidden: And he who shall have his book given to him in his right hand, will say to his friends, ‘Take ye it; read ye my book; I ever thought that to this my reckoning I should come.’
Sura 70 - THE STEPS OR ASCENTSMECCA - 44 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful A suitor sued1 for punishment to light suddenly By which the angels and the spirit ascend to him in a day, whose length is fifty thousand years.2 Be thou patient therefore with becoming patience; Though they look at one another. Fain would the wicked redeem himself from punishment on that day at the price of his children, Of his spouse and his brother, (Save with their wives or the slaves whom their right hands have won, for there they shall be blameless; But whoever indulge their desires beyond this are transgressors); Wherefore let them flounder on and disport them, till they come face to face with their threatened day, The day on which they shall flock up out of their graves in haste like men who rally to a standard:— Their eyes downcast; disgrace shall cover them. Such their threatened day.
Sura 71 - NOAHMECCA - 29 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful We sent NOAH to his people, and said to him, ‘Warn thou thy people ere there come on them an afflictive punishment.’ He said, ‘O my people! I come to you a plain-spoken warner: Your sins will He forgive you, and respite you till the fixed Time; for when God’s fixed Time hath come, it shall not be put back. Would that ye knew this!’ He said, ‘Lord I have cried to my people night and day; and my cry doth but make them flee from me the more. So oft as I cry to them, that thou mayest forgive them, they thrust their fingers into their ears, and wrap themselves in their garments, and persist in their error, and are disdainfully disdainful. Then I cried aloud to them: And will increase you in wealth and children; and will give you gardens, and will give you watercourses:— What hath come to you that ye hope not for goodness from the hand of God? Said Noah, ‘O my Lord! they rebel against me, and they follow those whose riches and children do but aggravate their ruin.’ And they plotted a great plot; And they caused many to err;2— and thou, too, O Muhammad! shalt be the means of increasing only error in the wicked — Because of their sins they were drowned, and made to go into the Fire; O my Lord, forgive me, and my parents, and every one who, being a believer, shall enter my house, and believers men and women: and add to the wicked nought but perdition.’
Sura 72 - DJINNMECCA - 28 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful SAY: It hath been revealed to me that a company of DJINN1 listened, and said, — ‘Verily, we have heard a marvellous discourse (Koran); It guideth to the truth; wherefore we believed in it, and we will not henceforth join any being with our Lord; And He,— may the majesty of our Lord be exalted! — hath taken no spouse neither hath he any offspring. But the foolish among us hath spoken of God that which is unjust: And we verily thought that no one amongst men or Djinn would have uttered a lie against God. There are indeed people among men, who have sought for refuge unto people among Djinn: but they only increased their folly: And they thought, as ye think, that God would not raise any from the dead. And the Heavens did we essay, but found them filled with a mighty garrison, and with flaming darts; And we sat on some of the seats to listen, but whoever listeneth findeth an ambush ready for him of flaming darts. And truly we know not whether evil be meant for them that are on earth, or whether their Lord meaneth guidance for them. And there are among us good, and others among us of another kind;— we are of various sorts: And verily we thought that no one could weaken God on earth, neither could we escape from him by flight: Wherefore as soon as we had heard “the guidance” we believed in it; and whoever believeth in his Lord, need not fear either loss or wrong. There are some among us who have resigned themselves to God (the Muslims); and there are others of us who have gone astray. And whoso resigneth himself to God pursueth the way of truth; But they who go astray from it shall be fuel for Hell.’ Moreover, if they (the Meccans) keep straight on in that way, we will surely give them to drink of abundant waters, That we may prove them thereby: but whoso withdraweth from the remembrance of his Lord, him will He send into a severe torment. It is unto God that the temples are set apart: call not on any other therein with God. When the servant of God stood up to call upon Him, the Djinn almost jostled him by their crowds. SAY: I call only upon my Lord, and I join no other being with Him. My sole work is preaching from God, and His message: and for such as shall rebel against God and his apostle is the fire of Hell! they shall remain therein alway,— for ever! Until they see their threatened vengeance they will be perverse! but then shall they know which side was the weakest in a protector and the fewest in number. SAY: I know not whether that with which ye are threatened be nigh, or whether my Lord hath assigned it to a distant day: He knoweth the secret, nor doth He divulge his secret to any, Except to that Apostle who pleaseth Him; and before him and behind him He maketh a guard to march: That He may know if his Apostles have verily delivered the messages of their Lord: and He embraceth in his knowledge all their ways, and taketh count of all that concerneth them.
Sura 73 - THE ENFOLDED1MECCA - 20 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful O Thou ENFOLDED in thy mantle, Verily, at the oncoming of night are devout impressions strongest, and words are most collected;3 But in the day time thou hast continual employ — Lord of the East and of the West! No God is there but He! Take Him for thy protector, And endure what they say with patience, and depart from them with a decorous departure. And let Me alone with the gainsayers, rich in the pleasures of this life; and bear thou with them yet a little while: For with Us are strong fetters, and a flaming fire, The day cometh when the earth and the mountains shall be shaken; and the mountains shall become a loose sand heap. Verily, we have sent you an Apostle to witness against you, even as we sent an Apostle to Pharaoh: But Pharaoh rebelled against the Apostle, and we therefore laid hold on him with a severe chastisement. And how, if ye believe not, will you screen yourselves from the day that shall turn children greyheaded? The very heaven shall be reft asunder by it: this threat shall be carried into effect. Lo! this is a warning. Let him then who will, take the way to his Lord. Of a truth,4 thy Lord knoweth that thou prayest almost two-thirds, or half, or a third of the night, as do a part of thy followers. But God measureth the night and the day:— He knoweth that ye cannot count its hours aright, and therefore, turneth to you mercifully. Recite then so much of the Koran as may be easy to you. He knoweth that there will be some among you sick, while others travel through the earth in quest of the bounties of God; and others do battle in his cause. Recite therefore so much of it as may be easy. And observe the Prayers and pay the legal Alms,5 and lend God a liberal loan: for whatever good works ye send on before for your own behoof, ye shall find with God. This will be best and richest in the recompense. And seek the forgiveness of God: verily, God is Forgiving, Merciful.
Sura 74 - THE ENWRAPPED1MECCA - 55 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful O thou, ENWRAPPED in thy mantle! None but angels have we made guardians of the fire:4 nor have we made this to be their number but to perplex the unbelievers, and that they who possess the Scriptures may be certain of the truth of the Koran, and that they who believe may increase their faith; And that they to whom the Scriptures have been given, and the believers, may not doubt; And that the infirm of heart and the unbelievers may say, What meaneth God by this parable? Thus God misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will doth He guide aright: and none knoweth the armies of thy Lord but Himself: and this is no other than a warning to mankind. Nay, by the Moon! For its own works lieth every soul in pledge. But they of God’s right hand In their gardens shall ask of the wicked;— But not unless God please, shall they be warned. Meet is He to be feared. Meet is forgiveness in Him.
Sura 75 - THE RESURRECTIONMECCA - 40 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful It needeth not that I swear by the day of the RESURRECTION,
Sura 76 - MANMECCA - 31 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Doth not a long time pass over MAN, during which he is a thing unremembered?1 We have created man from the union of the sexes that we might prove him; and hearing, seeing, have we made him: In a right way have we guided him, be he thankful or ungrateful. Who though longing for it themselves, bestowed their food on the poor and the orphan and the captive: ‘We feed you for the sake of God: we seek from you neither recompense nor thanks:3 From the evil therefore of that day hath God delivered them and cast on them brightness of face and joy: And hath rewarded their constancy, with Paradise and silken robes: Aye-blooming youths go round among them. When thou lookest at them thou wouldest deem them scattered pearls; And when thou seest this, thou wilt see delights and a vast kingdom: Their clothing green silk robes and rich brocade: with silver bracelets shall they be adorned; and drink of a pure beverage shall their Lord give them. This shall be your recompense. Your efforts shall meet with thanks. We ourselves have sent down to thee the Koran as a missive from on high. Await then with patience the judgments of thy Lord, and obey not the wicked among them and the unbelieving: And make mention of the name of thy Lord at morn, at even, Ourselves have we created them, and strengthened their joints; and when we please, with others like unto themselves will we replace them. This truly is a warning: And whoso willeth, taketh the way to his Lord; He causeth whom He will to enter into his mercy. But for the evil doers, He hath made ready an afflictive chastisement.
Sura 77 - THE SENTMECCA - 50 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the train of THE SENT ones,1
Sura 78 - THE NEWSMECCA - 41 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Of what ask they of one another? Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of all that between3 them lieth — the God of Mercy! But not a word shall they obtain from Him. On the day whereon the Spirit4 and the Angels shall be ranged in order, they shall not speak: save he whom the God of Mercy shall permit, and who shall say that which is right . This is the sure day. Whoso then will, let him take the path of return to his Lord. Verily, we warn you of a chastisement close at hand: The day on which a man shall see the deeds which his hands have sent before him; and when the unbeliever shall say, ‘Oh! would I were dust!’
Sura 791 - THOSE WHO DRAG FORTHMECCA - 46 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By those angels who DRAG FORTH souls with violence, But as to him who shall have feared the majesty of his Lord, and shall have refrained his soul from lust, Verily, Paradise — that shall be his dwelling-place. On the day when they shall see it, it shall seem to them as though they had not tarried in the tomb, longer than its evening or its morn.
Sura 80 - HE FROWNEDMECCA - 42 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful He FROWNED, and he turned his back,1
Sura 81 - THE FOLDED UPMECCA - 29 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful When the sun shall be FOLDED UP,1
Sura 82 - THE CLEAVINGMECCA - 19 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful When the Heaven shall CLEAVE asunder,
Sura 83 - THOSE WHO STINTMECCA - 36 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Woe to those who STINT the measure:
Sura 84 - THE SPLITTING ASUNDERMECCA - 25 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful When the Heaven shall have SPLIT ASUNDER
Sura 85 - THE STARRYMECCA - 22 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the star-spangled Heaven!1 Nor did they torment them but for their faith in God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy:4 Verily, those who vexed the believers, men and women, and repented not, doth the torment of Hell, and the torment of the burning, await. But for those who shall have believed and done the things that be right, are the Gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow. This the immense bliss! Verily, right terrible will be thy Lord’s vengeance!
Sura 86 - THE NIGHT-COMERMECCA - 17 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the heaven, and by the NIGHT-COMER! Sura 87 - THE MOST HIGHMECCA - 19 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Praise the name of thy Lord THE MOST HIGH,
Sura 88 - THE OVERSHADOWINGMECCA - 26 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Hath the tidings of the day that shall OVERSHADOW, reached thee?
Sura 89 - THE DAYBREAKMECCA - 30 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the DAYBREAK and ten nights.1 And Hell on that day shall be moved up,3— Man shall on that day remember himself. But how shall remembrance help him? He shall say, Oh! would that I had prepared for this my life! On that day none shall punish as God punisheth,
Sura 90 -THE SOILMECCA - 20 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful I need not to swear by this SOIL, Beside this, to be of those who believe, and enjoin stedfastness on each other, and enjoin compassion on each other. These shall be the people of the right hand:
Sura 91 - THE SUNMECCA - 15 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the SUN and his noonday brightness!
Sura 92 - THE NIGHTMECCA - 21 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the NIGHT when she spreads her veil;
Sura 931 - THE BRIGHTNESSMECCA - 11 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the noon-day BRIGHTNESS,
Sura 94 - THE OPENINGMECCA - 8 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Have we not OPENED thine heart for thee? Sura 95 - THE FIGMECCA - 8 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful I swear by the FIG and by the olive,
Sura 961 - CLOTS OF BLOODMECCA - 18 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful2 Recite3 thou, in the name of thy Lord who created;—
Sura 97 - POWERMECCA - 5 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Verily, we have caused It1 to descend on the night of POWER.
Sura 98 - Clear EvidenceMEDINA - 8 VersesIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful The unbelievers among the people of the Book, and the Polytheists, did not waver, until the CLEAR EVIDENCE had come to them; A messenger from God, reciting to them the pure pages wherein are true Scriptures! Neither were they to whom the Scriptures were given divided into sects, till after this clear evidence had reached them! Yet was not aught enjoined on them but to worship God with sincere religion, sound in faith; and to observe prayer and pay the stated alms. For this is true religion. But the unbelievers among the people of the Book, and among the Polytheists, shall go into the fire of Gehenna to abide therein for aye. Of all creatures are they the worst! But they who believe and do the things that are right — these of all creatures are the best! Their recompense with their Lord shall be gardens of Eden, 'neath which the rivers flow, in which they shall abide for evermore. God is well pleased in them and they in Him! This, for him who feareth his Lord. Sura 99 - THE EARTHQUAKEMECCA - 8 VERSESIn the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful When the Earth with her quaking shall quake Sura 100 - THE CHARGERSMECCA - 11 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful By the snorting CHARGERS! Sura 101 - The BlowMECCA - 8 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful The BLOW! what is the Blow?
Sura 102 - DESIREMECCA - 8 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful The DESIRE of increasing riches occupieth you, Sura 103 - the AfternoonMECCA - 3 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful I swear by the declining day!
Sura 104 - THE BACKBITERMECCA - 9 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Woe to every BACKBITER, Defamer! Sura 105 - the ElephantMECCA - 5 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Hast thou not seen1 how thy Lord dealt with the army of the ELEPHANT?
Sura 106 - THE KOREISCHMECCA - 4 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful For the union of the KOREISCH:—
Sura 107 - RELIGIONMECCA - 7 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful What thinkest thou of him who treateth our RELIGION as a lie? Sura 108 - THE ABUNDANCEMECCA - 3 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Truly we have given thee an ABUNDANCE;
Sura 109 - UNBELIEVERSMECCA - 6 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful SAY: O ye UNBELIEVERS!
Sura 1101 - HELPMEDINA - 3 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful When the HELP of God and the victory arrive,
Sura 111 - ABU LAHABMECCA - 5 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Let the hands of ABU LAHAB1 perish, and let himself perish!
Sura 112 - THE UNITYMECCA - 4 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful SAY: He is God alone: Sura 113 - the DaybreakMECCA OR MEDINA - 5 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful SAY: I betake me for refuge to the Lord of the DAYBREAK
Sura 114 - MENMECCA OR MEDINA - 6 VERSESIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful SAY: I betake me for refuge to the Lord of MEN,
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