Juz 26

Ha. Mim.

THE BESTOWAL from on high of this divine writ I issues from God, the Almighty, the Wise.

We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them otherwise than in accord­ance with [an inner] truth, and for a term set [by Us]: and yet, they who are bent on denying the truth turn aside from the warning which has been conveyed unto them.

Say: “Have you [really] given thought to what it is that you invoke instead of God? Show me what these [beings or forces] have created anywhere on earth! Or had they, perchance, a share in [creating] the heavens? [If so,] bring me any divine writ pre­ceding this one, or any [other] vestige of knowledge - if what you claim is true!”

And who could be more astray than one who invokes, instead of God, such as will not respond to him either now or on the Day of Resurrection, and are not even conscious of being invoked?

such as, when all mankind is gathered [for judgment], will be enemies unto those [who worshipped them], and will utterly reject their worship?

But whenever Our messages are conveyed to them in all their clarity, they who are bent on denying the truth speak thus of the truth as soon as it is brought to them: “This is clearly nothing but spell­binding eloquence!”

Or do they say, “He has invented all this”? Say [O Muhammad]: “Had I invented it, you would not be of the least help to me against God. He is fully aware of that [slander] into which you so reck­lessly plunge: enough is He as a witness between me and you! And [withal,] He alone is truly-forgiving, a true dispenser of grace.”

Say: “I am not the first of [God’s] apostles; and [like all of them,] I do not know what will be done with me or with you: for I am nothing but a plain warner.”

Say: “Have you given thought [to how you will fare] if this be truly [a revelation] from God and yet you deny its truth? - even though a witness from among the children of Israel has already borne wit­ness to [the advent of] one like himself, and has believed [in him], the while you glory in your arro­gance [and reject his message]? Verily, God does not grace [such] evildoing folk with His guidance!”

But they who are bent on denying the truth speak thus of those who have attained to faith: “If this [message] were any good, these [people] would not have preceded us in accepting it!” And since they refuse to be guided by it, they will always say, “This is [but] an ancient falsehood!”

And yet, before this there was the revelation of Moses, a guide and a [sign of God’s] grace; and this [Qur’an] is a divine writ confirming the truth [of the Torah] in the Arabic tongue, to warn those who are bent on evildoing, and [to bring] a glad tiding to the doers of good:

for, behold, all who say, “Our Sustainer is God”, and thereafter stand firm [in their faith] - no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve:

it is they who are destined for paradise, therein to abide as a reward for all that they have done.

NOW [among the best of the deeds which] We have enjoined upon man is goodness towards his parents. In pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth; and her bearing him and his utter dependence on her took thirty months. and so, when he attains to full maturity and reaches forty years, he [that is righteous] prays: “O my Sustainer! Inspire me so that I may forever be grateful for those blessings of Thine with which Thou hast graced me and my parents, and that I may do what is right [in a manner] that will meet with Thy goodly acceptance; and grant me righteousness in my offspring [as well]. Verily, unto Thee have I turned in repentance: for, verily, I am of those who have surrendered themselves unto Thee!”

It is [such as] these from whom We shall accept the best that they ever did, and whose bad deeds We shall overlook: [they will find themselves] among those who are destined for paradise, in fulfillment of the true promise which they were given [in this world].

But [there is many a one] who says to his parents [whenever they try to imbue him with faith in God]: “Fie upon both of you! Do you promise me that I shall be brought forth [from the dead], although [so many] generations have passed away before me?” And [while] they both pray for God’s help [and say], “Alas for thee! For, behold, God’s promise always comes true!” - he but answers, “All this is nothing but fables of ancient times!”

It is [such as] these upon whom the sentence [of doom] will fall due, together with the [other sinful] communities of invisible beings and humans that have passed away before their time. Verily, they will be lost:

for, [in the life to come,] all shall have their degrees in accordance with whatever [good or evil] they did: and so, He will repay them in full for their doings, and none shall be wronged.

And on the Day when those who were bent on denying the truth will be brought within sight of the fire, [they will be told:] “You have exhausted your [share of] good things in your worldly life, having enjoyed them [without any thought of the hereafter]: and so today you shall be requited with the suffering of humiliation for having gloried on earth in your arrogance, offending against all that is right, and for all your iniquitous doings!”

AND REMEMBER that brother of [the tribe of] Ad, how - seeing that [other] warnings had already come and gone within his own knowledge as well as in times beyond his ken - he warned his people [who lived] among those sand-dunes: “Worship none but God! Verily, I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome day!”

They answered: “Hast thou come to seduce us away from our gods? Bring, then, upon us that [doom] with which thou threaten us, if thou art a man of truth!”

Said he: “Knowledge [of when it is to befall you] rests with God alone: I but convey unto you the message with which I have been entrusted; but I see that you are people ignorant [of right and wrong]!”

And so, when they beheld it in the shape of a dense cloud approaching their valleys, they exclaimed, “This is but a heavy cloud which will bring us [wel­come] rain!” [But Hud said:] “Nay, but it is the very thing which you [so contemptuously] sought to hasten - a wind bearing grievous suffering,

bound to destroy everything at its Sustainer’s behest!” And then they were so utterly wiped out that nothing could be seen save their [empty] dwellings: thus do We requite people lost in sin.

And yet, We had established them securely in a manner in which We have never established you, [O people of later times;] and We had endowed them with hearing, and sight, and [knowledgeable] hearts: but neither their hearing, nor their sight, nor their hearts were of the least avail to them, seeing that they went on rejecting God’s messages; and [in the end] they were overwhelmed by the very thing which they had been wont to deride.

Thus have We destroyed many a [sinful] community living round about you; and yet, [before destroying them,] We had given many facets to [Our warning] messages, so that they might turn back [from their evil ways].

But, then, did those [beings] whom they had chosen to worship as deities beside God, hoping that they would bring them nearer [to Him], help them [in the end]? Nay, they forsook them: for that [alleged divinity] was but an outcome of their self-delusion and all their false imagery.

AND LO! We caused a group of unseen beings to incline towards thee, [O Muhammad,] so that they might give ear to the Qur’an; and so, as soon as they became aware of it, they said [unto one another], “Listen in silence!” And when [the recitation] was ended, they returned to their people as warners.

They said: “O our people! Behold, we have been listening to a revelation bestowed from on high after [that of] Moses, confirming the truth of what­ever there still remains [of the Torah]: it guides towards the truth, and onto a straight way.

“O our people! Respond to God’s call, and have faith in Him: He will forgive you [whatever is past] of your sins, and deliver you from grievous suffering [in the life to come].

But he who does not respond to God’s call can never elude [Him] on earth, nor can he has any protector against Him [in the life to come]: all such are most obviously lost in error.”

ARE, THEN, they [who deny the life to come] not aware that God, who has created the heavens and the earth and never been wearied by their creation, has [also] the power to bring the dead back to life? Yea, verily, He has the power to will anything!

And so, on the Day when those who were bent on denying the truth will be brought within sight of the fire [and will be asked], “Is not this the truth?” - they will answer, “Yea, by Our Sustainer!” [And] He will say: “Taste, then, this suffering as an outcome of your denial of the truth!”

REMAIN, then, [O believer,] patient in adversity, just as all of the apostles, endowed with firmness of heart, bore themselves with patience. And do not ask for a speedy doom of those [who still deny the truth]: on the Day when they see [the fulfillment of] what they were promised, [it will seem to them] as though they had dwelt [on earth] no longer than one hour of [an earthly] day! [This is Our] message. Will, then, any be [really] destroyed save iniquitous folk?”

AS FOR THOSE who are bent on denying the truth and on barring [others] from the path of God - all their [good] deeds will He let go to waste;

whereas those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds, and have come to believe in what has been bestowed from on high on Muhammad - for it is the truth from their Sustainer - [shall attain to God’s grace:] He will efface their [past] bad deeds, and will set their hearts at rest.

This, because they who are bent on denying the truth pursue falsehood, whereas they who have attained to faith pursue [but] the truth [that flows] from their Sustainer. In this way does God set forth unto man the parables of their true state.

NOW WHEN you meet [in war] those who are bent on denying the truth, smite their necks until you overcome them fully, and then tighten their bonds; but thereafter [set them free,] either by an act of grace or against ransom, so that the burden of war may be lifted: thus [shall it be]. And [know that] had God so willed, He could indeed punish them [Himself]; but [He wills you to struggle] so as to test you [all] by means of one another. And as for those who are slain in God’s cause, never will He let their deeds go to waste:

He will guide them [in the hereafter as well], and will set their hearts at rest,

and will admit them to the paradise which He has promised them.

O you who have attained to faith! If you help [the cause of] God, He will help you, and will make firm your steps;

but as for those who are bent on denying the truth, ill fortune awaits them, since He will let all their [good] deeds go to waste:

this, because they hate [the very thought of] what God has bestowed from on high and thus He causes all their deeds to come to nought!

Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [willful sinners] who lived before their time? God destroyed them utterly: and the like thereof awaits all who deny the truth.

This, because God is the Protector of all who have attained to faith, whereas they who deny the truth have no protector.

Verily, God will admit all who attain to faith and do righteous deeds into gardens through which running waters flow, whereas they who are bent on denying the truth shall have - even though they may enjoy their life [in this world] and eat as cattle eat - the fire [of the hereafter] for their abode.

And how many a community of greater power than this thy community which has driven thee out, [O Muhammad,] have We destroyed, with none to succour them!

CAN, THEN, he who takes his stand on a clear evidence from his Sustainer be likened Unto one to whom the evil of his own doings [always] seems goodly, and unto such as would follow but their own lusts?

[And can] the parable of the paradise which the God-conscious are promised [a paradise] wherein there are rivers of water which time does not corrupt, and rivers of milk the taste whereof never alters, and rivers of wine delightful to those who drink it, and rivers of honey of all impurity cleansed, and the enjoyment of all the fruits [of their good deeds] and of forgiveness from their Sustainer -: can this [parable of paradise] be likened unto [the parable of the recompense of] such as are to abide in the fire and be given waters of burning despair to drink, so that it will tear their bowels asunder?

Now among those [hapless sinners] are such as [pretend to] listen to thee, [O Muhammad,] and then, as soon as they leave thy presence, speak [with scorn] unto those who have understood [thy mes­sage]: “What is it that he has said just now?” It is such as these whose hearts God has sealed because they [always] followed but their own lusts

just as for those who are [willing to be] guided, He increases their [ability to follow His] guidance and causes them to grow in God-consciousness.

Are, then, they [whose hearts are sealed] wait­ing for the Last Hour - [waiting] that it come upon them of a sudden? But it has already been foretold! And what will their remembrance [of their past sins] avail them, once it has come upon them?

Know, then, [O man,] that there is no deity save God, and [while there is yet time,] ask forgive­ness for thy sins and for [the sins of] all other believing men and women: for God knows all your comings and goings as well as your abiding [at rest].

NOW THOSE who have attained to faith say, “Would that a revelation [allowing us to fight] was bestowed from on high!” But now that a revelation clear in and by itself, mentioning war, has been bestowed from on high, thou canst see those in whose hearts is disease look­ing at thee, [O Muhammad,] with the look of one who is about to faint for fear of death! And yet, far better for them would be

obedience [to God’s call] and a word that could win [His] approval: for, since the matter has been resolved [by His revelation], it would be but for their own good to remain true to God.

[Ask them:] “Would you, perchance, after having turned away [from God’s commandment, pre­fer to revert to your old ways, and] spread corruption on earth, and [once again] cut asunder your ties of kinship?”

It is such as these whom God rejects, and whom He makes deaf [to the voice of truth], and whose eyes He blinds [to its sight]!

Will they not, then, ponder over this Qur’an? - or are there locks upon their hearts?

VERILY, those who turn their backs [on this mes­sage] after guidance has been vouchsafed to them, [do it because] Satan has embellished their fancies and filled them with false hopes:

[they do turn their backs on it] inasmuch as they are wont to say unto those who abhor all that God has revealed, “We will comply with your views on some points.” But God knows their secret thoughts:

hence, how [will they fare] when the angels gather them in death, striking their faces and their backs?

This, because they were wont to pursue what God con­demns and to hate [whatever would meet with] His goodly acceptance: and so He has caused all their [good] deeds to come to nought.

Or do they in whose hearts is disease think, perchance, that God would never bring their moral failings to light?

Now had We so willed, We could have shown them clearly to thee, so that thou wouldst know them for sure as by a visible mark: but [even so,] thou wilt most certainly recognize them by the tone of their voice. And God knows all that you do, [O men;]

and most certainly We shall try you all, so that We might mark out those of you who strive hard [in Our cause] and are patient in adversity: for We shall put to a test [the truth of] all your assertions.

Verily, they who are bent on denying the truth and on barring [others] from the path of God, and [who thus] cut themselves off from the Apostle after guidance has been vouchsafed to them, can in no wise harm God; but He will cause all their deeds to come to nought.

O you who have attained to faith! Pay heed unto God, and pay heed unto the Apostle, and let not your [good] deeds come to nought!

Verily, as for those who are bent on denying the truth and on barring [others] from the path of God, and then die as deniers of the truth - indeed, God will not grant them forgiveness!

AND SO, [when you fight in a just cause,] do not lose heart and [never] beg for peace: for, seeing that God is with you, you are bound to rise high [in the end]; and never will He let your [good] deeds go to waste.

The life of this world is but a play and a passing delight: but if you believe [in God] and are conscious of Him, He will grant you your deserts. And withal, He does not demand of you [to sacrifice in His cause all of] your possessions:

[for,] if He were to demand of you all of them, and urge you, you would niggardly cling [to them], and so He would [but] bring out your moral failings.

Behold, [O believers,] it is you who are called upon to spend freely in God’s cause: but [even] among you are such as turn out to be niggardly! And yet, he who acts niggardly [in God’s cause] is but niggardly towards his own self: for God is indeed self-sufficient, whereas you stand in need [of Him]; and if you turn away [from Him], He will cause other people to take your place, and they will not be the likes of you!

VERILY, [O Muhammad,] We have laid open before thee a manifest victory,

so that God might show His forgiveness of all thy faults, past as well as future, and [thus] bestow upon thee the full measure of His blessings, and guide thee on a straight way,

and [show] that God will succour thee with [His] mighty succour.

It is He who from on high has bestowed inner peace upon the hearts of the believers, so that - seeing that God’s are all the forces of the heavens and the earth, and that God is all-knowing, truly wise - they might grow yet more firm in their faith;

[and] that He might admit the believers, both men and women, into gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide, and that He might efface their [past bad] deeds: and that is, in the sight of God, indeed a triumph supreme!

And [God has willed] to impose suffering [in the life to come] on the hypocrites, both men and women, and on those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, both men and women: all who entertain evil thoughts about God. Evil encompasses them from all sides, and God’s condemnation rests upon them; and He has rejected them [from His grace], and has readied hell for them: and how evil a journey’s end!

For, God’s are all the forces of the heavens and the earth; and God is indeed almighty, truly wise!

VERILY, [O Muhammad,] We have sent thee as a witness [to the truth], and as a herald of glad tidings and a warner –

so that you [O men] might believe in God and His Apostle, and might honour Him, and revere Him, and extol His limitless glory from morn to evening.

Behold, all who pledge their allegiance to thee pledge their allegiance to God: the hand of God is over their hands. Hence, he who breaks his oath, breaks it only to his own hurt; whereas he who remains true to what he has pledged unto God, on him will He bestow a reward supreme.

Those of the bedouin who stayed behind will say unto thee: “[The need to take care of] our chat­tels and our families kept us busy: do then, [O Prophet,] ask God to forgive us!” [Thus,] they will utter with their tongues something that is not in their hearts. Say: “Who, then, has it in his power to avert from you aught that God may have willed, whether it be His will to harm you or to confer a benefit on you? Nay, but God is fully aware of what you do!

Nay, you thought that the Apostle and the believers would never return to their kith and kin: and this seemed goodly to your hearts. And you entertained [such] evil thoughts because you have always been people devoid of all good!”

Now as for those who will not believe in God and His Apostle - verily, We have readied a blazing flame for all [such] deniers of the truth!

But God’s is the dominion over the heavens and the earth: He forgives whomever He wills, and imposes suffering on whomever He wills - and [withal,] He is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.

As soon as you [O believers] are about to set forth on a war that promises booty, those who stayed behind [aforetime] will surely say, “Allow us to go with you” - [thus showing that] they would like to alter the Word of God. Say: “By no means shall you go with us: God has declared aforetime [to whom all spoils shall belong].” Thereupon they will [surely] answer, “Nay, but you begrudge us [our share of booty]!” Nay, they can grasp but so little of the truth!

Say unto those bedouin who stayed behind: “In time you will be called upon [to fight] against people of great prowess in war: you will have to fight against them [until you die] or they surrender. And then, if you heed [that call], God will bestow on you a goodly reward; but if you turn away as you turned away this time, He will chastise you with grievous chastisement.”

No blame attaches to the blind, nor does blame attach to the lame, nor does blame attach to the sick [for staying away from a war in God’s cause]; but whoever heeds [the call of] God and His Apostle [in deed or in heart], him will He admit into gardens through which running waters flow; whereas him who turns away will He chastise with grievous chastise­ment.

INDEED, well-pleased was God with the believers when they pledged their allegiance unto thee [O Muhammad] under that tree, for He knew what was in their hearts; and so He bestowed inner peace upon them from on high, and rewarded them with [the glad tiding of] a victory soon to come

and [of] many war-gains which they would achieve: for God is indeed almighty, wise.

[O you who believe!] God has promised you many war-gains which you shall yet achieve; and He has vouchsafed you these [worldly gains] well in advance, and has stayed from you the hands of [hostile] people, so that this [your inner strength] may become a symbol to the believers [who will come after you], and that He may guide you all on a straight way.

And there are yet other [gains] which are still beyond your grasp, [but] which God has already encompassed [for you]: for God has the power to will anything.

And [now,] if they who are bent on denying the truth should fight against you, they will indeed turn their backs [in flight], and will find none to protect them and none to bring them succour:

such being God’s way which has ever obtained in the past - and never wilt thou find any change in God’s way!

And He it is who, in the valley of Mecca, stayed their hands from you, and your hands from them, after He had enabled you to vanquish them; and God saw indeed what you were doing.

[It was not for your enemies sake that He stayed your hands from them: for] it was they who were bent on denying the truth, and who debarred you from the Inviolable House of Worship and prevented your offering from reaching its destina­tion. And had it not been for the believing men and believing women [in Mecca], whom you might have unwittingly trampled underfoot, and on whose account you might have become guilty, without knowing it, of a grievous wrong-: [had it not been for this, you would have been allowed to fight your way into the city: but you were forbidden to fight] so that [in time] God might admit to His grace whomever He wills. Had they [who deserve Our mercy and they whom We have condemned] been clearly discernible [to you], We would indeed have imposed grievous suffering [at your hands] on such of them as were bent on denying the truth.

Whereas they who are bent on denying the truth harboured a stubborn disdain in their hearts - the stubborn disdain [born] of ignorance God bestowed from on high His [gift of] inner peace upon His Apostle and the believers, and bound them to the spirit of God-consciousness: for they were most worthy of this [divine gift], and deserved it well. And God has full knowledge of all things.

Indeed, God has shown the truth in His Apostle’s true vision: most certainly shall you enter the Inviolable House of Worship, if God so wills, in full security, with your heads shaved or your hair cut short, without any fear: for He has [always] known that which you yourselves could not know. And He has ordained [for you], besides this, a victory soon to come.

He it is who has sent forth His Apostle with the [task of spreading] guidance and the religion of truth, to the end that He make it prevail over every [false] religion; and none can bear witness [to the truth] as God does.

MUHAMMAD is God’s Apostle; and those who are [truly] with him are firm and unyielding towards all deniers of the truth, [yet] full of mercy towards one another. Thou canst see them bowing down, pros­trating themselves [in prayer], seeking favour with God and [His] goodly acceptance: their marks are on their faces, traced by prostration. This is their parable in the Torah as well as their parable in the Gospel: [they are] like a seed that brings forth its shoot, and then He strengthens it, so that it grows stout, and [in the end] stands firm upon its stem, delighting the sowers. [Thus will God cause the believers to grow in strength,] so that through them He might confound the deniers of the truth. [But] unto such of them as may [yet] attain to faith and do righteous deeds, God has promised forgiveness and a reward supreme.

O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not put yourselves forward in the presence of [what] God and His Apostle [may have ordained], but remain conscious of God: for, verily, God is all-hearing, all-knowing!

O you who have attained to faith! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and neither speak loudly to him, as you would speak loudly to one another, lest all your [good] deeds come to nought without your perceiving it.

Behold, they who lower their voices in the presence of God’s Apostle - it is they whose hearts God has tested [and opened] to consciousness of Himself; [and] theirs shall be forgiveness and a reward supreme.

Verily, [O Prophet,] as for those who call thee from without thy private apartments - most of them do not use their reason:

for, if they had the patience [to wait] until thou come forth to them [of thine own accord], it would be for their own good. Still, God is much forgiving, a dispenser of grace.

O YOU who have attained to faith! If any iniquitous person comes to you with a [slanderous] tale, use your discernment, lest you hurt people unwittingly and afterwards be filled with remorse for what you have done.

And know that God’s Apostle is among you: were he to comply with your inclinations in each and every case, you would be bound to come to harm [as a community]. But as it is, God has caused [your] faith to be dear to you, and has given it beauty in your hearts, and has made hateful to you all denial of the truth, and all iniquity, and all rebellion [against what is good]. Such indeed are they who follow the right course

through God’s bounty and favour; and God is all-knowing, truly wise.

Hence, if two groups of believers fall to fighting, make peace between them; but then, if one of the two [groups] goes on acting wrongfully towards the other, fight against the one that acts wrongfully until it reverts to God’s commandment; and if they revert, make peace between them with justice, and deal equitably [with them]: for verily, God loves those who act equitably!

All believers are but brethren. Hence, [when­ever they are at odds,] make peace between your two brethren, and remain conscious of God, so that you might be graced with His mercy.

O YOU who have attained to faith! No men shall deride [other] men: it may well be that those [whom they deride] are better than themselves; and no women [shall deride other] women: it may well be that those [whom they deride] are better than them­selves. And neither shall you defame one another, nor insult one another by [opprobrious] epithets: evil is all imputation of iniquity after [one has attained to] faith; and they who [become guilty thereof and] do not repent - it is they, they who are evildoers!

O you who have attained to faith! Avoid most guesswork [about one another] for, behold, some of [such] guesswork is [in itself] a sin; and do not spy upon one another, and neither allow your­selves to speak ill of one another behind your backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, you would loathe it! And be conscious of God. Verily, God is an accep­tor of repentance, a dispenser of grace!

O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.

THE BEDOUIN say, “We have attained to faith.” Say [unto them, O Muhammad]: “You have not [yet] attained to faith; you should [rather] say, ‘We have [outwardly] surrendered’ - for [true] faith has not yet entered your hearts. But if you [truly] pay heed unto God and His Apostle, He will not let the least of your deeds go to waste: for, behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.”

[Know that true] believers are only those who have attained to faith in God and His Apostle and have left all doubt behind, and who strive hard in God’s cause with their possessions and their lives: it is they, they who are true to their word!

Say: “Do you, perchance, [want to] inform God of [the nature of] your faith although God knows all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth? Indeed, God has full knowledge of every­thing!”

Many people think that they have bestowed a favour upon thee [O Prophet] by having surrendered [to thee]. Say thou: “Deem not your surrender a favour unto me: nay, but it is God who bestows a favour upon you by showing you the way to faith - if you are true to your word!”

Verily, God knows the hidden reality of the heavens and the earth; and God sees all that you do.

Qaf. CONSIDER this sublime Qur’an!

But nay - they deem it strange that a warner should have come unto them from their own midst; and so these deniers of the truth are saying, “A strange thing is this!

Why - [how could we be resurrected] after we have died and become mere dust? Such a return seems far-fetched indeed!”

Well do We know how the earth consumes their bodies, for with Us is a record unfailing.

Nay, but they [who refuse to believe in resurrection] have been wont to give the lie to this truth whenever it was proffered to them; and so they are in a state of confusion.

Do they not look at the sky above them - how We have built it and made it beautiful and free of all faults?

And the earth - We have spread it wide, and set upon it mountains firm, and caused it to bring forth plants of all beauteous kinds,

thus offering an insight and a reminder unto every human being who willingly turns unto God.

And We send down from the skies water rich in blessings, and cause thereby gardens to grow, and fields of grain,

and tall palm-trees with their thickly-clustered dates,

as sustenance appor­tioned to men; and by [all] this We bring dead land to life: [and] even so will be [man’s] coming-forth from death.

[Long] before those [who now deny resur­rection] did Noah’s people give the lie to this truth, and [so did] the folk of Ar-Rass, and [the tribes of] Thamud

and Ad, and Pharaoh, and Lot’s brethren,

and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan], and the people of Tubba: they all gave the lie to the apostles - and thereupon that whereof I had warned [them] came true.

Could We, then, be [thought of as being] worn out by the first creation? Nay - but some people are [still] lost in doubt about [the possibility of] a new creation!

NOW, VERILY, it is We who have created man, and We know what his innermost self whispers within him: for We are closer to him than his neck-vein.

[And so,] whenever the two demands [of his nature] come face to face, contending from the right and from the left,

not even a word can he utter but there is a watcher with him, ever-present.

And [then,] the twilight of death brings with it the [full] truth that [very thing, O man,] from which thou wouldst always look away! –

and [in the end] the trumpet [of resurrection] will be blown: that will be the Day of a warning fulfilled.

And every human being will come forward with [his erstwhile] inner urges and [his] conscious mind,

[and will be told:] “Indeed, unmindful hast thou been of this [Day of Judgment]; but now We have lifted from thee thy veil, and sharp is thy sight today!”

And one part of him will say: “This it is that has been ever-present with me!”

[Whereupon God will command:] “Cast, cast into hell every [such] stubborn enemy of the truth,

[every] withholder of good [and] sinful aggressor [and] fomentor of distrust [between man and man – everyone]

who has set up another deity beside God: cast him, then, cast him into suffering severe!”

Man’s other self’ will say: “O our Sustainer! It was not I that led his conscious mind into evil [nay,] but it had gone far astray [of its own accord]!

[And] He will say: “Contend not before Me, [O you sinners,] for I gave you a forewarning [of this Day of Reckoning].

The judgment passed by Me shall not be altered; but never do I do the least wrong unto My creatures!”

On that Day We will ask hell, “Art thou filled?”- and it will answer, “[Nay,] is there yet more [for me]?”

And [on that Day] paradise will be brought within the sight of the God-conscious, and will no longer be far away; [and they will be told:]

“This is what you were promised - [promised] unto every­one who was wont to turn unto God and to keep Him always in mind –

[everyone] who stood in awe of the Most Gracious although He is beyond the reach of human perception, and who has come [unto Him] with a heart full of contrition.

Enter this [paradise] in peace; this is the Day on which life abiding begins!”

In that [paradise] they shall have whatever they may desire - but there is yet more with Us.

AND HOW MANY a generation have We destroyed before those [who now deny the truth] people of greater might than theirs; but [when Our chastise­ment befell them,] they became wanderers on the face of the earth, seeking no more than a place of refuge

In this, behold, there is indeed a reminder for everyone whose heart is wide-awake -that is, [every­one who] lends ear with a conscious mind -

and [who knows that] We have indeed created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six aeons, and [that] no weariness could ever touch Us.

HENCE, [O believer,] bear thou with patience what­ever they may say, and extol thy Sustainer’s limit­less glory and praise before the rising of the sun and before its setting;

and in the night, too, extol His glory, and at every prayer’s end.

And [always] listen for the day when He who issues the call [of death] shall call [thee] from close-by;

[and bethink thyself, too, of] the Day on which all [human beings] will in truth hear the final blast - that Day of [their] coming-forth [from death].

Verily, it is We who grant life and deal death; and with Us will be all journeys’ end

on the Day when the earth is riven asunder all around them as they hasten forth [towards God’s judgment]: that gathering will be easy for Us [to encompass].

Fully aware are We of what they [who deny resurrection] do say; and thou canst by no means force them [to believe in it]. Yet none the less, remind, through this Qur’an, all such as may fear My warning.

CONSIDER the winds that scatter the dust far and wide,

and those that carry the burden [of heavy clouds],

and those that speed along with gentle ease,

and those that apportion [the gift of life] at [God’s] behest!

Verily, that which you are promised is true indeed,

and, verily, judgment is bound to come!

CONSIDER the firmament full of starry paths!

Verily, [O men,] you are deeply at variance as to what to believe:

perverted in his views thereon is he who would deceive himself!

They but destroy themselves, they who are given to guessing at what they cannot ascertain –

they who blunder along, in ignorance lost –

they who [mockingly] ask, “When is that Day of Judgment to be?”

[It will be] a Day when they will be sorely tried by the fire,

[and will be told:] “Taste this your trial! It is this that you were so hastily asking for!”

[But,] behold, the God-conscious will find themselves amid gardens and springs,

enjoying all that their Sustainer will have granted them [because], verily, they were doers of good in the past:

they would lie asleep during but a small part of the night,

and would pray for forgiveness from their innermost hearts;

and [would assign] in all that they possessed a due share unto such as might ask [for help] and such as might suffer priva­tion.

AND ON EARTH there are signs [of God’s exis­tence, visible] to all who are endowed with inner certainty,

just as [there are signs thereof] within your own selves: can you not, then, see?

And in heaven is [the source of] your sus­tenance [on earth] and [of] all that you are promised [for your life after death]:

for, by the Sustainer of heaven and earth, this [life after death] is the very truth - as true as that you are endowed with speech!

AND HAS the story of Abraham’s honoured guests ever come within thy ken?

When those [heavenly messengers] came unto him and bade him peace, he answered, “[And upon you be] peace!” - [saying to himself,] “They are strangers.”

Then he turned quietly to his household, and brought forth a fat [roasted] calf,

and placed it before them, saying, “Will you not eat?”

[And when he saw that the guests would not eat,] he became apprehensive of them; [but] they said, “Fear not” - and gave him the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son who would be endowed with deep knowledge.

Thereupon his wife approached [the guests] with a loud cry, and struck her face [in astonishment] and exclaimed: “A barren old woman [like me]!”

They answered: “Thus has thy Sustainer decreed; and, verily, He alone is truly wise, all- knowing!”