By the a ngels – arranged in rows,
who stop people from evil
and by those who recite the word
that your Lord is One,
Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and what is between them, the Lord of the Easts.
We have decorated the lower sky with the stars
and protected it from every disobedient devil.
They cannot eavesdrop on the higher assembly of angels, they will be attacked from all sides
and driven out. Theirs is everlasting punishment.
The snatcher of information is chased by a fiery comet
Ask: “Are they more difficult to create than the rest of the creation?” We created them from a sticky clay.
Are you surprised they mock,
if they are reminded they take no notice;
when they see a sign they poke fun at it,
saying, “This is magic;
when we are dead and become dust and bones will we
be raised to life with our forefathers?”
Say: “Yes, and you will be despised!
It will be a single blast as they look on terrified.
With regret they will say, “This is Judgement Day.”
Indeed, the Day of Decision that you denied.
The angels will be ordered: “Gather the wicked people, including their spouses and whatever they worshipped
beside Allah, and lead them on the path to the Blazing Fire.
Stop them for questioning,
why are you not helping each other today?”
No, today is the Day that they submit fully.
They will confront each other, quarrelling.
“You overpowered us,”
they will reply, “No! You didn’t want to be believers;
we had no power over you, you were rebellious anyway.
Our Lord’s judgement against us is fair. We’ll taste the punishment.
We misguided you since we were misguided.”
That Day they will share the punishment;
that’s Our way of dealing with sinners.
The arrogant people, when they were asked to say: “There is no God but Allah,”
said, “Should we give up our gods for the sake of a mad poet?”
Nay, he came with the truth and confirmed the previous prophets.
Now taste the painful punishment.
You’ll be repaid fully for what you did
The sincere servants of Allah
will have plenty of provisions; fruits they were familiar with.
They shall be honoured
in Gardens of Delight,
sitting on comfortable sofas facing each other;
they shall be served drinks in cups filled from a flowing fountain,
white and delicious for the drinkers;
this wine won’t cause headache or confusion;
sitting with their spouses of modest gaze and lovely eyes;
like precious eggs, well-preserved
They will turn to one another asking questions;
one of them will ask, “I had a friend
who would ask me, ‘Do you really believe:
when we are dead and turned to dust and bones we shall be brought back for judgement?’
He will say, ‘Would you like to see him?’
So when he looked down, he saw him in the middle of the blazing Fire.
He said, ‘By Allah, you nearly ruined me;
hadn’t it been for the gift of my Lord, I would have been in Hell too.
Aren’t we to die except for our first death?
Shall we never suffer?’
This is a real victory.
Everyone should work for this
Is this better hospitality or the tree of Zaqqum?
We made this to chastise the wicked.
It is a tree that grows in the middle of Hell.
Its fruit is like the heads of Satan.
They will eat from it to fill their bellies,
then drink boiling water,
their home is Hell.
They found their forefathers misguided,
and thoughtlessly followed in their footsteps;
previously, most of them were misguided.
We sent many warners to them.
Look, what’s the fate of those who were warned;
only the sincere servants of Allah were saved
Remember when Nuh prayed to Us, so We responded graciously
and saved him and his followers from a terrible suffering.
We made his offspring continue in the world,
and we kept his praise in the future generations.
Peace be upon Nuh of all people.
This is how We reward the righteous.
He was our faithful servant.
The others We drowned
Ibrahim was from the same group;
he turned to his Lord with a heart free of evil.
He asked his father and people, “What do you worship
do you take false gods beside Allah?
What do you think about the Lord of the worlds?”
He looked at the stars
and said, “I’m sick.”
So people turned away and left him alone
So he quietly went to the temple full of idols and spoke with the idols: “Don’t you eat?
Why don’t you speak?”
He turned on them striking them with full force.
His people came to him hurriedly.
He said to them, “Why do you worship something you shape with your hands?
Allah created you and all you do.”
They decided: “Let’s make a pile of wood and throw him into a blazing fire.”
They plotted against him but We ruined their plot
He said, “I’m going to my Lord, He will guide me;
Lord, give me a pious son.”
So We gave good news of a son with strong character.
When he was old enough to work with him, one day he told him: “My son, I saw in a dream I’m sacrificing you; tell me what you think?” He replied, “Father, do as you were told; you’ll find me patient, Allah willing.”
When both submitted and Ibrahim laid him face down,
We called out: “Ibrahim
you have fulfilled the dream. This is how We reward the righteous.”
It was a clear test of faith.
We saved Ismael in exchange for a slaughtered ram,
and left his tribute among future generations.
Peace be on Ibrahim.
That’s how We reward the righteous,
he was Our faithful servant.
We later gave him good news of Ishaq, a righteous Prophet.
We blessed him and Ishaq; some of their children were righteous, others wrongdoers
We favoured Musa and Harun too;
We rescued them and their people from a dreadful suffering,
and helped them to become the winners.
We gave them the Book that explained things clearly,
We guided them on the straight path,
and left their praise among the future generations.
Peace be on Musa and Harun.
That’s how We reward the righteous,
Our faithful servants
Ilyas was also from the messengers.
He said to his people: “Won’t you believe?
How can you worship Baal and turn your back on the best Creator?
Isn’t Allah Your Lord and Lord of your forefathers?”
But they denied and will be brought before Us,
except for the devout servants of Allah.
We left his praise among the later generations.
Peace be on Ilyas.
That’s how We reward the righteous,
Our faithful servants
Similarly, Lut was Our messenger.
We saved him and all his followers
except the old lady who remained behind.
Then We destroyed all others.
Quraysh! You pass through their ruins in broad daylight,
and sometimes at night, don’t you understand
Yunus was also from the messengers.
When he fled on board the heavily-loaded ship,
they cast lots, he was the loser, thrown overboard.
A whale swallowed him, as he blamed himself.
Had he not been among those who glorify Allah,
he would have stayed in its belly till the Day of Resurrection.
Eventually, We flung him out, sick, on to an empty shore.
We caused a gourd tree to grow over to shade him,
and sent him back to one hundred thousand or more people.
They believed, so We allowed them to enjoy their lives fully.
So ask the disbelievers: “You assign daughters for your Lord and sons for yourself?
Were you witness when We created the angels?”
Beware! This is another of their concocted lies, they say,
“Allah has begotten;” they are liars.
Did He choose daughters over sons?
What has come over you that you judge in this way?
Do you not pay attention?
Or do you have evidence?
Bring your book if you are truthful.
They declare a relationship between Him and the jinn, and the jinn know they will be brought before him.
Glory be to Allah, He is far above what they imagine.
The true servants of Allah don’t do such things.
Neither you nor what you worship
can tempt anyone away from Allah
except him who will burn in the Blazing Fire
The angels will say, “each one of us has a role;
we are organised in ranks
and we glorify Allah.
The disbelievers used to say,
“If we had the Scripture like the past people,
we would have been like the devout servants of Allah.”
So they disbelieved the Quran; soon they will know
Our promise to the messengers, Our servants, was fulfilled;
they were helped
and our armies were the winners.
So leave them for a while.
Watch them, they will see the reality soon.
Do they want our punishment to come sooner?
When it comes into their courtyards it will be a terrible morning for those warned.
Leave them for a while
and watch, soon they will see the reality.
Glory be to Your Lord, Lord of Might and Power far above their claims.
And peace be on the Messengers
and all praises are for Allah, Lord of the worlds