BLESSED BE He who in His hand holds sovereignty: He has power over all things
who created death and life that He might put you to the proof as to which of you acquitted themselves best. He is the Almighty, the Forgiving One
who created seven heavens, one above the other. You will not see a flaw in the Merciful‘s creation; turn up your eyes: can you detect a single crack
Then look once more and yet again: your eyes will in the end grow dim and weary
We have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, missiles to pelt the demons with. For these We have prepared the torment of the Conflagration
and for those who deny their Lord the scourge of Hell: a wretched fate
When they are flung therein, they shall hear it roaring and seething, as though bursting with rage
Every time a multitude is thrown in, its keepers will ask them: ‘Did no one come to warn you?‘
Yes,‘ they will say, ‘he did come, but we disbelieved and said: "God has revealed nothing: you are but in grievous error."‘
And they will say: ‘If only we listened and understood, we should not now be among the inmates of the Conflagration.‘
Thus shall they confess their sin. Cursed be the inmates of the Conflagration
But those that fear their Lord although unseen shall be forgiven and richly recompensed
Whether you speak in private or aloud, He surely knows your innermost thoughts
Shall He who has created all, not know them all? Gracious is He and all-knowing
He it is who has made the earth subservient to you. Walk about its regions and eat of His provisions. To Him shall all return at the Resurrection
Are you confident that He who is in heaven will not cause the earth to cave in beneath you, so that it will shake to pieces
Are you confident that He who is in heaven will not let loose on you a sandy whirlwind? You will surely learn then what My warning was like
Those who have gone before them likewise disbelieved: but how grievous was the way I rejected them
Do they not see the birds above their heads, spreading their wings and folding them? None save the Merciful sustains them. He surely observes all things
Who is it that will defend you like an army, if not the Merciful? Truly, the unbelievers are in error
Who will provide for you if He withholds His sustenance? Yet they persist in arrogance and in rebellion
Is he that goes grovelling on his face more rightly guided than he that walks upright upon a straight path
Say: ‘He it was who brought you into being, and gave you ears and eyes and hearts. Yet you are seldom thankful.‘
Say: ‘He it was who placed you on the earth, and to Him shall you be herded.‘
And they say: ‘When will this promise be fulfilled, if what you say be true?‘
Say: ‘God alone has knowledge of that. I am only to give a veritable warning.‘
But when they see it drawing near, the unbelievers‘ faces will be contorted with woe, and a voice will say: ‘This is the doom which you have challenged.‘
Say: ‘Consider: whether God destroys me and all my followers or has mercy upon us, who will protect the unbelievers from a woeful scourge?‘
Say: ‘He is the Lord of Mercy: in Him we believe, and in Him we put our trust. You shall soon learn who is in evident error.‘
Say: ‘Consider: if all the water that you have were to sink down into the earth, who would give you running water in its place?‘