Surah “Mary”

as rendered by Arthur John Arberry — 98 verses

Kaf Ha Ya Ain Sa
The mention of thy Lord's mercy unto His servant Zachariah
when he called upon his Lord secretl
saying, 'O my Lord, behold the bones within me are feeble and my head is all aflame with hoariness. And in calling on Thee, my Lord, I have never been hitherto unprosperous
And now I fear my kinsfolk after I am gone; and my wife is barren. So give me, from Thee, a kinsman
who shall be my inheritor and the inheritor of the House of Jacob; and make him, my Lord, well-pleasing.
'O Zachariah, We give thee good tidings of a boy, whose name is John. No namesake have We given him aforetime.
He said, 'O my Lord, how shall I have a son, seeing my wife is barren, and I have attained to the declining of old age?
Said He, 'So it shall be; thy Lord says, "Easy is that for Me, seeing that I created thee aforetime, when thou wast nothing."
He said, 'Lord, appoint to me some sign.' Said He, 'Thy sign is that thou shall not speak to men, though being without fault, three nights.
So he came forth unto his people from the Sanctuary, then he made signal to them, 'Give you glory at dawn and evening.
'O John, take the Book forcefully'; and We gave him judgment, yet a little child
and a tenderness from Us, and purity; and he was godfearing
and cherishing his parents, not arrogant, rebellious
'Peace be upon him, the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he is raised up alive!
And mention in the Book Mary when she withdrew from her people to an eastern place
and she took a veil apart from them; then We sent unto her Our Spirit that presented himself to her a man without fault
She said, 'I take refuge in the All-merciful from thee
If thou fearest God ... He said, 'I am but a messenger come from thy Lord, to give thee a boy most pure
She said, 'How shall I have a son whom no mortal has touched, neither have I been unchaste?
He said, 'Even so thy Lord has said: "Easy is that for Me; and that We may appoint him a sign unto men and a mercy from Us; it is a thing decreed."
So she conceived him, and withdrew with him to a distant place
And the birthpangs surprised her by the trunk of the palm-tree. She said, 'Would I had died ere this, and become a thing forgotten!
But the one that was below her called to her, 'Nay, do not sorrow; see, thy Lord has set below thee a rivulet
Shake also to thee the palm-trunk, and there shall come tumbling upon thee dates fresh and ripe
Eat therefore, and drink, and be comforted; and if thou shouldst see any mortal, say, "I have vowed to the All-merciful a fast, and today I will not speak to any man
Then she brought the child to her folk carrying him; and they said, 'Mary, thou hast surely committed a monstrous thing
Sister of Aaron, thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother a woman unchaste.
Mary pointed to the child then; but they said, 'How shall we speak to one who is still in the cradle, a little child?
He said, 'Lo, I am God's servant; God has given me the Book, and made me a Prophet
Blessed He has made me, wherever I may be; and He has enjoined me to pray, and to give the alms, so long as I live
and likewise to cherish my mother; He has not made me arrogant, unprosperous
Peace be upon me, the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!
That is Jesus, son of Mary, in word of truth, concerning which they are doubting
It is not for God to take a son unto Him. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a thing, He but says to it 'Be,' and it is
Surely God is my Lord, and your Lord; So serve you Him. This is a straight path
But the parties have fallen into variance among themselves; then woe to those who disbelieve for the scene of a dreadful day
How well they will hear and see on the day they come to Us! But the evildoers even today are in error manifest
Warn thou them of the day of anguish, when the matter shall be determined, and they yet heedless and unbelieving
Surely We shall inherit the earth and all that are upon it, and unto Us they shall be returned
And mention in the Book Abraham; surely he was a true man, a Prophet
When he said to his father, 'Father, why worshippest thou that which neither hears nor sees, nor avails thee anything
Father, there has come to me knowledge such as came not to thee; so follow me, and I will guide thee on a level path
Father, serve not Satan; surely Satan is a rebel against the All-merciful
Father, I fear that some chastisement from the All-merciful will smite thee, so that thou becomest a friend to Satan
Said he, 'What, art thou shrinking from my gods, Abraham? Surely, if thou givest not over, I shall stone thee; so forsake me now for some while.
He said, 'Peace be upon thee! I will ask my Lord to forgive thee; surely He is ever gracious to me
Now I will go apart from you and that you call upon, apart from God; I will call upon my Lord, and haply I shall not be, in calling upon my Lord, unprosperous
So, when he went apart from them and that they were serving, apart from God, We gave him Isaac and Jacob, and each We made a Prophet
and We gave them of Our mercy, and We appointed unto them a tongue of truthfulness, sublime
And mention in the Book Moses; he was devoted, and he was a Messenger, a Prophet
We called to him from the right side Of the Mount, and We brought him near in communion
And We gave him his brother Aaron, of Our mercy, a Prophet
And mention in the Book Ishmael; he was true to his promise, and he was a Messenger, a Prophet
He bade his people to pray and to give the alms, and he was pleasing to his Lord
And mention in the Book Idris; he was a true man, a Prophet
We raised him up to a high place
These are they whom God has blessed among the Prophets of the seed of Adam, and of those We bore with Noah, and of the seed of Abraham and Israel, and of those We guided and chose. When the signs of the All-merciful were recited to them, they fell down prostrate, weeping
Then there succeeded after them a succession who wasted the prayer, and followed lusts; so they shall encounter error
save him who repents, and believes, and does a righteous deed; those -- they shall enter Paradise, and they shall not be wronged anything
Gardens of Eden that the All-merciful promised His servants in the Unseen; His promise is ever performed
There they shall hear no idle talk, but only 'Peace.' There they shall have their provision at dawn and evening
That is Paradise which We shall give as an inheritance to those of Our servants who are godfearing
We come not down, save at the commandment of thy Lord. To Him belongs all that is before us, and all that is behind us, and all between that
And thy Lord is never forgetful, Lord He of the heavens and earth and all that is between them. So serve Him, and be thou patient in His service; knowest thou any that can be named with His Name
Man says, 'What, when I am dead shall I then be brought forth alive?
Will not man remember that We created him aforetime, when he was nothing
Now, by thy Lord, We shall surely muster them, and the Satans, then We shall parade them about Gehenna hobbling on their knees
Then We shall pluck forth from every party whichever of them was the most hardened in disdain of the All-merciful
then We shall know very well those most deserving to burn there
Not one of you there is, but he shall go down to it; that for thy Lord is a thing decreed, determined
Then We shall deliver those that were godfearing; and the evildoers We shall leave there, hobbling on their knees
When Our signs are recited to them as clear signs, the unbelievers say to the believers, 'Which of the two parties is better in station, fairer in assembly?
And how many a generation We destroyed before them, who were fairer in furnishing and outward show
Say: 'Whosoever is in error, let the All-merciful prolong his term for him! Till, when they see that they were threatened, whether the chastisement, or the Hour, then they shall surely know who is worse in place, and who is weaker in hosts.
And God shall increase those who were guided in guidance; and the abiding things, the deeds of righteousness, are better with thy Lord in reward, and better in return
Hast thou seen him who disbelieves in Our signs and says, 'Assuredly I shall be given wealth and children'
What, has he observed the Unseen, or taken a covenant with the All-merciful
No, indeed! We shall assuredly write down all that he says, and We shall prolong for him the chastisement
and We shall inherit from him that he says, and he shall come to Us alone
And they have taken to them other gods apart from God, that they might be for them a might
No, indeed! They shall deny their service, and they shall be against them pitted
Hast thou not seen how We sent the Satans against the unbelievers, to prick them
So hasten thou not against them; We are only numbering for them a number
On the day that We shall muster the godfearing to the All-merciful with pom
and drive the evildoers into Gehenna herding
having no power of intercession, save those who have taken with the All-merciful covenant
And they say, 'The All-merciful has taken unto Himself a son
You have indeed advanced something hideous
The heavens are wellnigh rent of it and the earth split asunder, and the mountains wellnigh fall down crashing fo
that they have attributed to the All-merciful a son
and it behoves not the All-merciful to take a son
None is there in the heavens and earth but he comes to the All-merciful as a servant
He has indeed counted them, and He has numbered them exactly
Every one of them shall come to Him upon the Day of Resurrection, all alone
Surely those who believe and do deeds of righteousness -- unto them the All-merciful shall assign love
Now We have made it easy by thy tongue that thou mayest bear good tidings thereby to the godfearing, and warn a people stubborn
And how many a generation We destroyed before them! Dost thou perceive so much as one of them, or hear of them a whisper