Surah “The Mount, The Mountain”

as rendered by Bijan Moeinian — 49 verses

I (God) swear by the Mount Sinai
And this Qur’an which is already written and preserved in a…
safe place in an unfolded scroll
And by this house (Kaba in Mecca built by Abraham for the worship of God) which is being visited by so many people
And the elevated canopy
And by the swollen ocean
Have no doubt about the coming of the day of…
judgment that no one can escape it
On the day that the heaven will move from…
side to side and the mountains will be wiped out
Grief and sorrow on that day to disbelievers who wasted their life by entering into…
vain discourse and took serious matters lightly
The day on which they will be dragged violently to the Hellfire
They will be told:” This is the Fire that you were denying.”
“Do you think this is magic? Can you see now what you were rejecting?”
Burn now. whether you bear it or not, this is your destiny. You are simply being rewarded according to your deeds
The righteous ones will end up in garden enjoying heavenly joy
Their Lord will save them from the punishment of Hell and let them rejoice in Heaven
“Eat and drink free of charge as a reward for your worldly deeds.”
Reclining on luxurious furnishings, face to face they will enjoy each others company; they will be wedded to pure spouses with beautiful eyes
I (God) will join in paradise those who have believed with their offspring, who have followed their footsteps in faith. No one will be deprived of the reward for his deeds. The man’s soul [which is a collateral for what God has offered him in this world as a debt], will be freed of his debt
I (God) will provide them [free of charge] with any fruit or meat that they may desire
They will be passed hand to hand cups of drinks which will not intoxicate them and, therefore, they will never behave indecently or use abusive language
They will have appointed young servants who will be as lovely as well-guarded pearls
They will talk to each other about their worldly lives saying
“While living among our folks, we were not obsessed with accumulating the wealth and our financial security
That is why God has been so kind to us and has saved us from the hot winds of poisonous gases of Hell
God was the Only One Whom we turned to; indeed He is the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Go on and guide them to the right path. By the grace of your Lord, you are neither a wizard nor a mad man
They say: “Mohammad is a poet, insulting our idols; we are waiting so that pretty soon he will be subjected to a miserable end by our gods.”
Tell them: “Wait, I will be waiting too.”
Are these contradictory accusations [calling Mohammad an intelligent poet and at the same time a mad man, for example] the fruit of their thoughts or the manifestation of their wicked nature
While they know that Mohammad is not capable of coming up with such a superior work like Qur’an, is their insistence upon this accusation not a sign of their wickedness
If they really believe that a man is capable of producing a book like this, then challenge them to produce a similar book, if they are sincere about what they are saying
Do they think that they are created out of nothing? Are they their own creators
Have they created heavens and the earth? The fact of the matter is that they are sure of nothing; they have no faith
Do they possess the treasures of your Lord? Do they have control over anything
Have they any ladder to climb up to heaven and listen directly to their Lord [as they deny the authenticity of the message relayed to them by the Messenger]. If so, what have they heard? Do they have any proof
If they claim to hear from God, how come they assign daughters to God while they kill their own daughters as it is beneath their “dignity” to have nothing but son
Does our prophet ask for a wage for his mission that they are afraid of paying for him
Do they have the knowledge of the unseen realities that they flatly refuse it
Do they constantly devise secret plots against our prophet? Let them know that those who devise devilish plots, their plots always backfires
Do they have any other God beside God? Glory to God, far above having a partner
Even a great miracle such as falling a part of the sky will be justified by them as “a mass of cloud advancing.”
So let them in their disbelief till the Day that they will be struck down
On that day their plots will not protect them; nothing will protect them
Even before that Day, they will be subject to misfortunes without understanding it
Be patient till you are given the victory. God is watching over His Prophet. Glorify and praise your Lord when you wake up
Also glorify Him at night as well as at the retreat of stars [before dawn]