Al-A'laa

EXTOL the limitless glory of thy Sustainer's name: [the glory of] the Al-Highest,

who creates [every thing], and thereupon forms it in accordance with what it is meant to be,

and who determines the nature [of all that exists], and thereupon guides it [towards its fulfilment],

and who brings forth herbage,

and thereupon causes it to decay into rust-brown stubble!

WE SHALL teach thee, and thou wilt not forget [aught of what thou art taught],

save what God may will [thee to forget] - for, verily, He [alone] knows all that is open to [man's] perception as well as all that is hidden [from it]

and [thus] shall We make easy for thee the path towards [ultimate] ease.

REMIND, THEN, [others of the truth, regardless of] whether this reminding [would seem to] be of use [or not]:

in mind will keep it he who stands in awe [of God],

but aloof from it will remain that most hapless wretch –

he who [in the life to come] shall have to endure the great fire

wherein he will neither die nor remain alive.

To happiness [in the life to come] will indeed attain he who attains to purity [in this world],

and remembers his Sustainer's name, and prays [unto Him].

But nay, [O men,] you prefer the life of this world,

although the life to come is better and more enduring.

Verily, [all] this has indeed been [said] in the earlier revelations –

the revelations of Abraham and Moses.