By the angels, who rank themselves in order
and by those who drive forward and dispel the clouds
and by those who read the Koran for an admonition
verily your God is one
The Lord of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them, and the Lord of the east
We have adorned the lower heaven with the ornament of the stars
And We have placed therein a guard, against every rebellious devil
that they may not listen to the discourse of the exalted princes, -- for they are darted at from every side
to repel them, and a lasting torment is prepared for them; -
except him who catcheth a word by stealth, and is pursued by a shining flame
Ask the Meccans therefore, whether they be stronger by nature, or the angels whom We have created? We have surely created them of stiff clay
Thou wondrest at God's power and their obstinacy; but they mock at the arguments urged to convince them
When they are warned, they do not take warning
and when they see any sign, they scoff thereat
and say, this is no other than manifest sorcery
After we shall be dead, and become dust and bones, shall we really be raised to life
and our fore-fathers also
Answer, yea: And ye shall then be despicable
There shall be but one blast of the trumpet, and they shall see themselves raised
And they shall say, alas for us! This is the day of judgment
this is the day of distinction between the righteous and the wicked, which ye rejected as a falsehood
Gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their comrades, and the idols which they worshippe
besides God, and direct them in the way to hell
And set them before God's tribunal; for they shall be called to account
What aileth you that ye defend not one another
But on this day they shall submit themselves to the judgment of God
And they shall draw nigh unto one another, and shall dispute among themselves
And the seduced shall say unto those who seduced them, verily ye came unto us with presages of prosperity
and the seducers shall answer, nay, rather ye were not true believers
For we had no power over you to compel you; but ye were people who voluntarily transgressed
Wherefore the sentence of our Lord hath been justly pronounced against us, and we shall surely taste his vengeance
We seduced you; but we also erred ourselves
They shall both thereof be made partakers of the same punishment on that day
Thus will We deal with the wicked
Because when it is said unto them, there is no god besides the true God, they swell with arrogance
and say, shall we abandon our gods for a distracted poet
Nay; he cometh with the truth, and beareth witness to the former apostles
Ye shall surely taste the painful torment of hell
and ye shall not be rewarded, but according to your works
But as for the sincere servants of God
they shall have a certain provision in paradise
namely, delicious fruits: And they shall be honoured
They shall be placed in gardens of pleasure
leaning on couches, opposite to one another
A cup shall be carried round unto them, filled from a limpid fountain
for the delight of those who drink
It shall not oppress the understanding, neither shall they be inebriated therewith
And near them shall lie the virgins of paradise, refraining their looks from beholding any besides their spouses, having large black eyes
and resembling the eggs of an ostrich covered with feathers from the dust
And they shall turn the one unto the other, and shall ask one another questions
And one of them shall say, verily I had an intimate friend while I lived in the world
who said unto me, art thou one of those who assertest the truth of the resurrection
After we shall be dead, and reduced to dust and bones, shall we surely be judged
Then he shall say to his companions, will ye look down
And he shall look down, and shall see him in the midst of hell
And he shall say unto him, by God, it wanted little but thou hadst drawn me into ruin
and had it not been for the grace of my Lord, I had surely been one of those who have been delivered up to eternal torment
Shall we die any other
than our first death; or do we suffer any punishment
Verily this is great felicity
For the obtaining a felicity like this let the labourers labour
Is this a better entertainment, or the tree of Al Zakkum
Verily We have designed the same for an occasion of dispute unto the unjust
It is a tree which issueth from the bottom of hell
The fruit thereof resembleth the heads of devils
and the damned shall eat of the same, and shall fill their bellies therewith
and there shall be given them thereon a mixture of filthy and boiling water to drink
Afterwards shall they return into hell
They found their fathers going astray
and they trod hastily in their footsteps
For the greater part of the ancients erred before them
And We sent warners unto them heretofore
And see how miserable was the end of those who were warned
except the sincere servants of God
Noah called on Us in former days, and We heard him graciously
And We delivered him and his family out of the great distress
and We caused his off-spring to be those who survived to people the earth
And We left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity
namely, peace be on Noah among all creatures
Thus do We reward the righteous
for he was one of our servants the true believers
Afterwards We drowned the others
Abraham also was of his religion
When he came unto his Lord with a perfect heart
When he said unto his father and his people, what do ye worship
Do ye choose false gods preferably to the true God
What therefore is your opinion of the Lord of all creatures
And he looked and observed the stars
and said, verily I shall be sick, and shall not assist at your sacrifices
And they turned their backs and departed from him
And Abraham went privately to their gods, and said scoffingly unto them, do ye not eat of the meat which is set before you
What aileth you that ye speak not
And he turned upon them, and struck them with his right hand, and demolished them
And the people came hastily unto him
And he said, do ye worship the images which ye carve
Whereas God hath created you, and also that which ye make
They said, build a pile for him, and cast him into the glowing fire
And they devised a plot against him; but We made them the inferior, and delivered him
And Abraham said, verily I am going unto my Lord, who will direct me
O Lord, grant me a righteous issue
Wherefore We acquainted him that he should have a son, who should be a meek youth
And when he had attained to years of discretion, and could join in acts of religion with him; Abraham said unto him, O my son, verily I saw in a dream that I should offer thee in sacrifice: Consider therefore what thou art of opinion I should do. He answered, O my father, do what thou art commanded: Thou shalt find me, if God please, a patient person
And when they had submitted themselves to the divine will, and Abraham had laid his son prostrate on his face
We cried unto him, O Abraham
now hast thou verified the vision. Thus do We reward the righteous
Verily this was a manifest trial
And We ransomed him with a noble victim
And We left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity
namely, peace be on Abraham
Thus do We reward the righteous
For he was one of our faithful servants
And We rejoiced him with the promise of Isaac, a righteous prophet
and We blessed him and Isaac: And of their off-spring were some righteous doers, and others who manifestly injured their own souls
We were also gracious unto Moses and Aaron, heretofore
And We delivered them and their people from a great distress
And We assisted them against the Egyptians, and they became the conquerors
And We gave them the perspicuous book of the law
and We directed them into the right way
And We left the following salutation to be bestowed on them by the latest posterity
namely, peace be on Moses and Aaron
Thus do We reward the righteous
for they were two of our faithful servants
And Elias was also one of those who were sent by Us
When he said unto his people, do ye not fear God
Do ye invoke Baal, and forsake the most excellent creator
God is your Lord, and the Lord of your forefathers
But they accused him of imposture: Wherefore they shall be delivered up to eternal punishment
except the sincere servants of God
And We left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity
namely, peace be on Ilyasin
Thus do We reward the righteous
For he was one of our faithful servants
And Lot was also one of those who were sent by Us
When We delivered him and his whole family
except an old woman, his wife, who perished among those that remained behind
Afterwards We destroyed the others
And ye, O people of Mecca, pass by the places where they once dwelt, as ye journey in the morning
and by night: Will ye not therefore understand
Jonas was also one of those who were sent by Us
When he fled into the loaded ship
and those who were on board cast lots among themselves, and he was condemned
And the fish swallowed him; for he was worthy of reprehension
And if he had not been one of those who praised God
verily he had remained in the belly thereof until the day of resurrection
And We cast him on the naked shore, and he was sick
And We caused a plant of a gourd to grow up over him
and We sent him to an hundred thousand persons, or they were a greater number
and they believed: Wherefore We granted them to enjoy this life, for a season
Inquire of the Meccans whether thy Lord hath daughters, and they sons
Have We created the angels of the female sex? And were they witnesses thereof
Do they not say of their own false invention
God hath begotten issue? And are they not really liars
Hath he chosen daughters preferably to sons
Ye have no reason to judge thus
Will ye not therefore be admonished
Or have ye a manifest proof of what ye say
Produce now your book of revelations, if ye speak truth
And they make Him to be of kin unto the genii; whereas the genii know that they who affirm such things, shall be delivered up to eternal punishment
-- far be that from God, which they affirm of him! -
Except the sincere servants of God
Moreover ye and that which ye worship
shall not seduce any concerning God
except him who is destined to be burned in hell
There is none of us, but hath an appointed place
We range ourselves in order, attending the commands of God
and we celebrate the divine praise
The infidels said
if we had been favoured with a book of divine revelations, of those which were delivered to the ancients
we had surely been sincere servants of God
Yet now the Koran is revealed, they believe not therein; but hereafter shall they know the consequence of their unbelief
Our word hath formerly been given unto our servants the apostles
that they should certainly be assisted against the infidels
and that our armies should surely be the conquerors
Turn aside therefore from them, for a season
And see the calamities which shall afflict them; for they shall see thy future success and prosperity
Do they therefore seek to hasten our vengeance
Verily when it shall descend into their courts, an evil morning shall it be unto those who were warned in vain
Turn aside from them therefore for a season
and see: Hereafter shall they see thy success and their punishment
Praise be unto thy Lord, the Lord who is far exalted above what they affirm of Him
And peace be on his apostles
And praise be unto God, the Lord of all creatures