ترجمة معاني سورة الأعراف
باللغة الإنجليزية من كتاب ترجمة معاني القرآن الكريم - عادل صلاحي
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Alif. Lam. Mim. Sad.
This is a Book that has been bestowed on you from on high – so do not entertain any doubt about it – in order that you may warn people with its message, and admonish the believers.
Follow, [all of you], what has been sent down to you by your Lord, and follow no masters other than Him. How seldom do you keep this in mind.
How many a community have We destroyed, with Our punishment falling upon them by night, or at midday while they were resting.
And when Our punishment fell upon them, all they could say was: ‘We have indeed been wrongdoers’.
We shall most certainly question those to whom a message was sent, and We shall most certainly question the messengers themselves.
And most certainly We shall reveal to them Our knowledge [of what they have done]; for never have We been absent.
On that day, the weighing will be true and accurate: and those whose weight [of good deeds] is heavy in the balance are the ones who are successful;
whereas those whose weight is light in the balance are the ones who have lost their own souls because of their wilful rejection of Our revelations.
We have established you firmly on earth and We have provided you there with means of livelihood. How seldom are you grateful.
We have indeed created you, and then formed you. We then said to the angels: ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam!’ They all prostrated themselves, except for Iblis: he was not one of those who prostrated themselves.
And [God] said: ‘What has prevented you from prostrating yourself when I commanded you?’ Answered [Iblis]: ‘I am nobler than he: You created me out of fire, while you created him out of clay’.
[God] said: ‘Off with you hence! It is not for you to show your arrogance here. Get out, then; you will always be among the humiliated’.
Said he: ‘Grant me a respite until the Day when all will be raised [from the dead]’.
God replied: ‘You shall indeed be among these granted respite’.
[Iblis] said: ‘Since you let me fall in error, I shall indeed lurk in ambush for them all along Your straight path, and I shall most certainly fall upon them from the front and from the rear, and from their right and from their left; and You will find most of them ungrateful’.
[God] said: ‘Get out of here, despised, disgraced. As for those of them that follow you, I shall fill Hell with you all.
And [as for you], Adam: dwell you and your wife in this Garden, and eat, both of you, whatever you may desire; but do not come near this tree, lest you become wrongdoers’.
But Satan whispered to them both, so that he might show them their nakedness, of which they had previously been unaware. He said to them: ‘Your Lord has only forbidden you this tree lest you two become angels or immortals’.
And he swore to them: ‘I am indeed giving you sound advice’.
Thus he cunningly deluded them. And when they both had tasted the fruit of the tree, their nakedness became apparent to them, and they began to cover themselves with leaves from the Garden. Their Lord called out to them: ‘Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you both that Satan is your open enemy?’
Said they: ‘Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves; and unless You grant us forgiveness and bestow Your mercy upon us, we shall certainly be lost’.
Said He: ‘Get you down hence, [and be henceforth] enemies to one another, having on earth your abode and livelihood for a while’.
‘There shall you live’, He added, ‘and there shall you die, and from there shall you be brought forth [on the Day of Resurrection]’.
Children of Adam, We have sent down to you clothing to cover your nakedness, and garments pleasing to the eye; but the robe of God-fearingness is the finest of all. In this there is a sign from God, so that they may reflect.
Children of Adam, do not allow Satan to seduce you in the same way as he caused your [first] parents to be turned out of the Garden. He stripped them of their garment in order to make them aware of their nakedness. Surely, he and his tribe watch you from where you cannot perceive them. We have made the devils as patrons for those who do not believe.
When they commit a shameful deed, they say, ‘We found our fathers doing it’, and, ‘God has enjoined it upon us’. Say: ‘Never does God enjoin what is indecent. Would you attribute to God something of which you have no knowledge?’
Say: ‘My Lord has enjoined justice, and that you set your whole selves [to Him] at every time and place of prayer, and call on Him, sincere in your faith in Him alone. As it was He who brought you into being in the first instance, so also [to Him] you will return:
some [of you] He will have graced with His guidance, whereas for some a straying from the right path will have become unavoidable. For, they will have taken satans for their protectors in preference to God, thinking all the while that they have found the right path.
Children of Adam, dress well when you attend any place of worship. Eat and drink but do not be wasteful. Surely He does not love the wasteful.
Say, ‘Who is there to forbid the beauty which God has produced for His servants, and the wholesome means of sustenance?’ Say, ‘They are [lawful] in the life of this world, to all who believe – to be theirs alone on the Day of Resurrection’. Thus do We make Our revelations clear to people of knowledge.
Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden shameful deeds, be they open or secret, and all types of sin, and wrongful oppression, and that you should associate with God anything for which He has given no authority, and that you attribute to God anything of which you have no knowledge’.
For every community a term has been set. When [the end of] their term approaches, they can neither delay nor hasten it by a single moment.
Children of Adam! Whenever there come to you messengers from among yourselves to relate to you My revelations, then those who are God-fearing and live righteously shall have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve.
But those who deny and scorn Our revelations are the ones destined for the Fire, where they shall abide.
Who is more wicked than one who invents lies about God or denies His revelations? These shall have whatever has been decreed to be their lot [in life]. When Our messengers come to carry off their souls, they will say: ‘Where, now, are those whom you used to invoke besides God?’ They will reply: ‘They are oblivious of us!’ Thus, they will bear witness against themselves that they had been unbelievers.
[God] will say: ‘Enter into the Fire to join the hosts of the jinn and humans who have gone before you’. Every time a host enters [the Fire], it will curse its fellow host. When all are gathered there, the last of them will say of the first: ‘Our Lord, these are the ones who have led us astray, so give them double suffering in the Fire’. He will answer: ‘Every one of you shall have double suffering, although you may not know it’.
And the first of them will say to the last: ‘In no wise were you superior to us. Taste, then, this suffering on account of what you have been doing’.
For those who deny Our revelations and scorn them the gates of heaven shall not be opened; nor shall they enter paradise any more than a thick, twisted rope can pass through a needle’s eye. Thus do We reward the evil-doers.
Hell shall be their resting place, and sheets of fire shall cover them. Thus do We reward the wrongdoers.
As for those who believe and do righteous deeds, We never burden a soul with more than it can bear. They are destined for paradise, where they will abide.
We shall remove any rancour that may be lingering in their hearts. Running waters will flow at their feet; and they will say: ‘All praise is due to God who has guided us to this. Had He not given us guidance, we would certainly have not found the right path. Our Lord’s messengers have certainly brought us the truth’. [A voice] will call out to them: ‘This is the paradise you have inherited by virtue of what you used to do’.
The dwellers of paradise will call out to the inmates of the Fire: ‘We have found what our Lord promised to be true. Have you, too, found the promise of your Lord to be true?’ They will answer: ‘Yes’, whereupon someone from their midst will proclaim: ‘Cursed indeed are the wrongdoers
who turn others away from God’s path and try to make it appear crooked, and who reject the truth of the life to come’.
Between the two parties there will be a barrier, and on the Heights there will be men who recognise everyone by their looks. They will call out to the dwellers of paradise: ‘Peace be upon you’, – not having entered it themselves, but longing still [to be there].
And whenever their eyes are turned towards the inmates of the Fire, they will say: ‘Our Lord, do not place us alongside such wrongdoing people’.
Then those on the Heights will call out to certain people whom they recognise by their looks, saying: ‘What have your great throngs and your false pride availed you?
‘Are these the self-same people whom you swore that God would never show them mercy?’ [These are told,] ‘Enter Paradise. You have nothing to fear, nor will you grieve’.
And the inmates of the Fire will cry out to the dwellers of Paradise: ‘Pour some water on us, or give us some of the sustenance God has provided for you’. They will reply: ‘God has forbidden both to the unbelievers,
who have taken their religion for a pastime and an idle sport, and who have been beguiled by the life of this world’. Today We shall be oblivious of them as they were oblivious of the meeting on this day of theirs, and as they used to deny Our revelations.
We have indeed given them a Book which We have clearly and wisely spelled out, a guidance and a grace for people who have faith.
Are they waiting for its final meaning to unfold? On this Day when its final meaning unfolds, those who previously were oblivious of it will say: ‘Our Lord’s messengers have surely told us the Truth. Have we, then, any intercessors who could plead on our behalf? Or could we live our lives again, so that we may act differently from the way we used to act’. They have lost their souls and all that which they invented has failed them.
Your Lord is God who has created the heavens and the earth in six aeons, and is established on the throne. He covers the day with the night in swift pursuit. The sun, the moon and the stars are subservient to His command. Surely all creation and all authority belong to Him. Blessed is God, the Lord of the worlds.
Call upon your Lord with humility, and in the secrecy of your hearts. He does not love those who transgress the bounds of what is right.
Do not spread corruption on earth after it has been so well ordered. Call on Him with fear and hope. Truly, God’s grace is ever near to the righteous.
He it is who sends forth the winds heralding His coming mercy, and when they have gathered up heavy clouds, We may drive them towards dead land and cause the water to fall upon it, and thus We cause all manner of fruit to come forth. Thus shall We cause the dead to come to life, so that you may keep this in mind.
Good land brings forth its vegetation in abundance, by its Lord’s leave, but from the bad land only poor and scant vegetation comes forth. Thus do We expound Our revelations in various ways for the benefit of those who are grateful.
We sent Noah to his people, and he said: ‘My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome day’.
The notables among his people replied: ‘We certainly see that you are in obvious error’.
Said he: ‘My people, I am not in error, but I am a messenger from the Lord of all the worlds.
‘I am delivering to you my Lord’s messages and giving you sincere counsel, for I know [through revelation] from God what you do not know.
‘Do you think it strange that a reminder from your Lord should come to you through a man from among yourselves, so that he might warn you, and that you may keep away from evil and be graced with His mercy?’
But they accused him of lying, so We saved him together with all those who stood by him, in the ark, and caused those who rejected Our revelations to drown. Surely they were blind people.
And to [Ad [We sent] their brother Hud. He said: ‘My people, worship God alone, you have no deity other than Him. Will you not, then, be God-fearing’.
Said the notables among his people who disbelieved: ‘We clearly see that you are weak-minded, and, truly, we think that you are a liar’.
Said [Hud]: ‘Weak-minded I am not, my people’, he said: ‘I am a messenger from the Lord of all the worlds.
‘I am delivering to you my Lord’s messages and giving you sincere and honest counsel.
Do you think it strange that a reminder from your Lord should come to you through a man from among yourselves, so that he might warn you? Do but remember that He has made you successors of Noah’s people, and given you a larger stature than other people. Remember, then, God’s favours so that you may attain success’.
They answered: ‘Have you come to tell us to worship God alone, and give up what our forefathers used to worship? Bring about, then, whatever you are threatening us with, if you are a man of truth.’
Said [Hud]: ‘You are already beset by loathsome evil and by your Lord’s condemnation. Are you arguing with me about some names you and your forefathers have invented, and for which God has given no warrant? Wait, then, if you will. I too am waiting’.
So, by Our grace, We saved him together with all those who stood by him, and We wiped out the last remnant of those who denied Our revelations and would not believe.
And to Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih. He said: ‘My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has come to you from your Lord. This she-camel belonging to God is a token for you, so leave her alone to pasture on God’s earth and do her no harm, lest grievous punishment befall you.
‘Remember that He has made you the successors of [Ad and settled you firmly in the land. You build for yourselves palaces on its plains and carve out houses on the mountains. Remember, then, God’s favours and do not go about spreading corruption in the land’.
The notables among his people who gloried in their arrogance towards all who were deemed weak, said to the believers among them: ‘Do you really know that Salih is a messenger sent by his Lord? They answered: ‘We do believe in the message he has been sent with’.
The arrogant ones said: ‘For our part, we reject what you believe in’.
They cruelly slaughtered the she-camel, and insolently defied the commandment of their Lord, and said: ‘Salih, bring about the (punishment) with which you have threatened us, if you are truly one of (God’s) messengers’.
Thereupon an earthquake overtook them and the morning found them lying lifeless on the ground in their very homes.
He turned away from them, and said: ‘My people, I delivered to you my Lord’s message and counselled you sincerely, but you do not like those who give sincere counsel’.
And Lot said to his people: ‘Will you persist in the indecencies none in all the world had ever committed before you?
‘With lust you approach men instead of women. Indeed, you are given to excesses’.
His people’s only answer was: ‘Drive them out of your land; for they are indeed people who would keep chaste.
‘We saved him together with his household, except his wife: she was one of those who stayed behind.
‘We let loose a heavy rain upon them. Behold what happened in the end to those criminal people.’
And to Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu[ayb. He said: ‘My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has come to you from your Lord. Give full measure and weight [in your dealings], and do not deprive people of what rightfully belongs to them. Do not spread corruption on earth after it has been so well ordered. That is best for you, if you are true believers.
‘Do not squat on every road, threatening and turning away from God’s path anyone who believes in Him, and trying to make it appear crooked. Remember when you were few and how He caused you to rapidly increase in number. Behold what happened in the end to those who spread corruption.
‘If there be some among you who believe in the message with which I am sent, and others who do not believe, then be patient until God shall judge between us. He is the best of all judges’.
Said the notables among his people, who gloried in their arrogance: ‘We shall indeed expel you, Shu[ayb, and your fellow believers from our land unless you return to our fold’. He said: ‘Even though we are unwilling?
‘We should be guilty of fabricating lies against God, if we were to return to your ways after God has saved us from them. It is not conceivable that we should return to them, unless God, our Lord, so wills. Our Lord has full knowledge of everything. In God we place our trust. Our Lord, lay open the truth between us and our people; for You are the best to lay open the truth’.
The notables who disbelieved among his people said: ‘If you follow Shu[ayb, you shall indeed be losers’.
Thereupon an earthquake overtook them and the morning found them lying lifeless on the ground in their homes,
as if those that rejected Shu[ayb had never prospered there. Those that rejected Shu[ayb were indeed the losers.
He turned away from them and said: ‘My people, I delivered to you my Lord’s messages and counselled you sincerely. How, then, could I grieve for people who persist in unbelief’.
Never have We sent a prophet to any city without trying its people with tribulations and hardship that they may supplicate with humility.
We then replaced the affliction with good fortune till they throve and said, ‘Hardship and good fortune befell our forefathers as well’. We then smote them, all of a sudden, while they were totally unaware.
Yet had the people of those cities believed and been God-fearing, We would indeed have opened up for them blessings out of heaven and earth. But they disbelieved, so We smote them on account of what they had been doing.
Do the people of these cities feel secure that Our might would not strike them at dead of night when they are asleep?
Or do the people of these cities feel secure that Our might would not strike them in broad daylight when they are playing around?
Do they feel themselves secure from God’s designs? None feels secure from God’s designs except those who are losers.
Is it not plain to those who have inherited the earth in succession of former generations that, if We so willed, We can punish them for their sins and seal their hearts, leaving them bereft of hearing.
We have related to you parts of the history of those communities. Messengers from among themselves came to them with clear evidence of the truth; but they would not believe in what they had formerly rejected. Thus does God seal the hearts of the unbelievers.
We found that most of them were untrue to their commitments; indeed We found most of them to be transgressors.
Then after those We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his people, but they willfully rejected them. Behold what happened in the end to those spreaders of corruption.
Moses said: ‘Pharaoh, I am a messenger from the Lord of all the worlds,
and may say about God nothing but the truth. I have come to you with a clear evidence from your Lord. So, let the Children of Israel go with me’.
He answered: ‘If you have come with a sign, produce it then if you are so truthful’.
Moses threw down his staff, and it immediately became a plainly visible serpent.
And he drew forth his hand, and it was [shining] white to the beholders.
The notables among Pharaoh’s people said: ‘This man is indeed a sorcerer of great skill,
who wants to drive you out of your land!’ [Said Pharaoh] ‘What, then, do you advise?’
They said: ‘Let him and his brother wait a while, and send heralds to all cities
to bring before you every sorcerer of great skill’.
The sorcerers came to Pharaoh and said: ‘Surely there will be a handsome reward for us if it is we who prevail’.
Answered [Pharaoh]: ‘Yes; and you will certainly be among those who are close to me’.
They said: ‘Moses! Either you shall throw [first], or we shall be the first to throw?’
He answered: ‘You throw [first]’. And when they threw [their staffs], they cast a spell upon people’s eyes and struck them with awe, making a display of great sorcery.
We then inspired Moses: ‘Throw your staff’. And it swallowed up their false devices.
Thus the truth prevailed and all their doings were proved to be vain.
They were defeated there and then, and became utterly humiliated.
The sorcerers fell down prostrating themselves,
and said: ‘We believe in the Lord of all the worlds,
the Lord of Moses and Aaron’.
Pharaoh said: ‘You believe in Him even before I have given you permission! This is indeed a plot you have contrived in this city in order to drive out its people, but you shall soon come to know [the consequences].
‘I shall have your hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, and then I shall crucify you all’.
They replied: ‘To our Lord we shall indeed return.
You want to take vengeance on us only because we have believed in the signs of our Lord when they were shown to us. Our Lord, grant us abundance of patience in adversity, and let us die as people who have surrendered themselves to You’.
The notables among Pharaoh’s people said: ‘Will you allow Moses and his people to spread corruption in the land and to forsake you and your gods?’ He replied: ‘We shall put their sons to death and shall spare only their women. We shall certainly overpower them’.
Moses said to his people: ‘Turn to God (alone) for help and remain steadfast. The whole earth belongs to God. He allows it to be inherited by whomever He wills of His servants. The future belongs to those who are God-fearing’.
They said: ‘We have been oppressed before you came to us and since you have come to us’. He replied: ‘It may well be that your Lord will destroy your enemy and leave you to inherit the earth. He will then see how you conduct yourselves’.
We afflicted Pharaoh’s people with drought and poor harvests, so that they might take heed.
Whenever something fine came their way, they would say: ‘This is our due’, but whenever affliction befell them, they attributed their ill omen to Moses and those who followed him. Surely, whatever befalls them has been decreed by God, though most of them do not know it.
They said [to Moses]: ‘Whatever sign you may produce before us in order to cast a spell on us, we shall not believe in you’.
So we plagued them with floods, and locusts, and lice, and frogs, and blood: clear signs all; but they gloried in their arrogance, for they were evil-doing folk.
Whenever a plague struck them, they would cry: ‘Moses, pray to your Lord for us on the strength of the covenant He has made with you. If you lift the plague from us, we will truly believe in you, and we will let the Children of Israel go with you’.
But when We had lifted the plague from them, for a term they were sure to reach, they broke their promise.
So We inflicted Our retribution on them, and caused them to drown in the sea, because they denied Our signs and were heedless of them.
We caused the people who were persecuted and deemed utterly low to inherit the eastern and western parts of the land which We had blessed. Thus your Lord’s gracious promise to the Children of Israel was fulfilled, because they were patient in adversity; and We destroyed all that Pharaoh and his people had wrought, and all that they had built.
We led the Children of Israel across the sea; and thereupon they came upon people who were dedicated to the worship of some idols of theirs. Said [the Children of Israel]: ‘Moses, set up a god for us like the gods they have’. He replied: ‘You are indeed an ignorant people.
As for these people: their method will inevitably lead to destruction, and worthless is all that they have been doing’.
[And] he said: ‘Am I to seek for you a deity other than God, although He has favoured you above all other people?’
We have indeed saved you from Pharaoh’s people, who oppressed you cruelly: they slew your sons and spared your women. Surely that was an awesome trial from your Lord.
We appointed for Moses thirty nights, to which We added ten, whereby the term of forty nights set by His Lord was complete. Moses said to his brother Aaron: ‘Take my place among my people and act righteously. Do not follow the path of those who spread corruption’.
When Moses came for Our appointment and his Lord spoke to him, he said: ‘My Lord, show Yourself to me, so that I may look at You’. Said [God]: ‘You shall not see Me. But look upon the mountain; if it remains firm in its place, then, only then, you shall see Me’. When his Lord revealed His glory to the mountain, He sent it crashing down. Moses fell down senseless. When he came to himself, he said: ‘Limitless You are in Your glory. To You I turn in repentance. I am the first to truly believe in You’.
He said: ‘Moses, I have chosen you of all mankind and favoured you by entrusting My messages to you and by my speaking to you. Take then what I have given you and be thankful’.
We wrote for him on the tablets all manner of admonition, clearly spelling out everything, and (said to him): ‘Implement them with strength and determination, and bid your people to observe what is best in them. I shall show you the abode of the transgressors.
‘I will turn away from My revelations those who, without any right, behave arrogantly on earth: for, though they may see every sign, they do not believe in it. If they see the path of righteousness, they do not choose to follow it, but if they see the path of error, they choose it for their path; because they disbelieve in Our revelations and pay no heed to them.
‘Those who deny Our revelations and the certainty of the meeting in the Hereafter will see all their works collapse. Are they to be rewarded for anything other than what they have done?’
In his absence, the people of Moses took to the worship of the effigy of a calf made of their ornaments, which gave a lowing sound. Did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor give them any guidance? Yet they took to worshipping it, for they were wrongdoers.
When they were later afflicted with remorse, having realised that they had gone astray, they said: ‘If our Lord does not have mercy on us and forgive us, we shall certainly be losers’.
When Moses returned to his people, full of wrath and sorrow, he said: ‘What an evil thing you have done in my absence! Have you tried to hurry up your Lord’s command?’ He put down the tablets and, seizing his brother by the head, he pulled him to himself. Cried Aaron, ‘Son of my mother, the people felt I was weak and they almost killed me. Do not let our enemies rejoice over my affliction, and do not count me among the wrongdoing folk’.
Said [Moses]: ‘My Lord, forgive me and my brother, and admit us to Your grace: for You are indeed the most merciful of those who are merciful’.
Those who took to worshipping the calf have surely incurred their Lord’s wrath, and disgrace [will be their lot] in this life. Thus do We reward those who invent falsehood.
But those who do evil deeds and later repent and truly believe will surely, after such repentance, find your Lord to be much-forgiving, ever-merciful.
Then when his wrath had subsided, Moses took up the tablets, upon which was inscribed a text of guidance and grace to those who stood in awe of their Lord.
Moses chose out of his people seventy men to come at a time set by Us. Then, when they were seized by violent trembling, he said: ‘My Lord, had it been Your will, You could have destroyed them, and myself too, long ago. Would you destroy us because of what the weak-minded among us have done? This is only a trial You have ordained, whereby You allow to go astray whom You will, and You guide aright whom You will. You alone are our guardian: grant us, then, forgiveness and bestow mercy on us. You are the best of all those who do forgive.
‘Ordain for us what is good, both in this world and in the life to come. To You alone we turn. [God] answered: ‘I afflict anyone I wish with My torment while My grace encompasses all things; so I will confer it on those who steer away from evil, and spend in charity, and who believe in Our signs –
those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet whom they shall find described in the Torah and the Gospel that are with them. He commands them to do what is right and forbids them to do what is wrong, and makes lawful to them the good things of life and forbids them all that is foul. He lifts from them their burdens and the shackles that weigh upon them. Those, therefore, who believe in him, honour and support him, and follow the light that has been bestowed from on high through him shall indeed be successful’.
Say: ‘Mankind, I am indeed God’s Messenger to you all. It is to Him that sovereignty over the heavens and the earth belongs. There is no deity other than Him. He alone grants life and causes death. Believe, then, in God and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believes in God and His words. And follow him, so that you may be rightly guided’.
Yet among the folk of Moses there are some who guide (others) by means of the truth and act justly in its light.
We divided them into twelve tribes, each a community. And when his people asked Moses for water to drink, we inspired him: ‘Strike the rock with your staff’. Twelve springs gushed forth from it, and each tribe knew its drinking-place. We caused the clouds to draw their shadow over them and sent down for them manna and quails, [saying]: ‘Eat of the good things We have given you as sustenance’. Yet they could do Us no wrong, but they certainly wronged themselves.
It was said to them: ‘Dwell in this city and eat of its food whatever you may wish, and say: “Lord, relieve us of our burden’, and enter the gate in humility. We will forgive you your sins, and We will richly reward those who do good’.
But the wrongdoers among them substituted other words for those which they had been given. Therefore We let loose against them a scourge from heaven in requital for their wrongdoing.
Ask them about the town which stood by the sea: how its people profaned the Sabbath. Each Sabbath their fish appeared before them breaking the water’s surface, but they would not come near them on other than Sabbath days. Thus did We try them because of their disobedience.
When some among them asked: ‘Why do you preach to people whom God is certain to destroy, or at least to punish severely?’ [Others] replied: ‘So that we may be free from blame in the sight of your Lord, and that they may become God-fearing’.
When they had forgotten all the warnings they had been given, We saved those who had tried to prevent evil, and overwhelmed the transgressors with dreadful suffering for their disobedience.
And when they insolently persisted in doing what they had been forbidden to do, We said to them: ‘Turn into despicable apes’.
Then your Lord declared that He would most certainly raise against them people who would cruelly oppress them till the Day of Resurrection. Your Lord is swift indeed in His retribution, yet He is certainly much-forgiving, ever-merciful.
We dispersed them all over the earth as separate communities; some of them were righteous, and some far from that, and We tried them with blessings and misfortunes, so that they might mend their ways.
They were succeeded by generations who inherited the Book. Yet these are keen to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of this lower world and say, ‘We shall be forgiven’. Should some similar pleasures come their way, they would certainly indulge them. Have they not solemnly pledged through their Scriptures to say nothing but the truth about God? And have they not studied well what is in [the Scriptures]? Surely the life in the Hereafter is better for all who are God-fearing. Will you not use your reason?
As for those who hold fast to the Scriptures and attend regularly to their prayers, We shall not fail to reward those who enjoin the doing of what is right.
We suspended the mountain over them as if it were a shadow, and they thought that it would fall down on them. [We said]: ‘Hold fast with all your strength to what We have given you and bear in mind all that it contains, so that you may remain God-fearing’.
Your Lord brought forth their offspring from the loins of the children of Adam, and called them to bear witness about themselves. [He said]: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They replied: ‘Yes, indeed, we bear witness to that’. [This He did] lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘We were truly unaware of this’;
or lest you say, ‘It was our forefathers who, in times gone by, associated partners with God, and we were only their late offspring. Will You destroy us on account of what those inventors of falsehood did?’
Thus We make plain Our revelations so that they may return [to the right path].
Tell them of the man to whom We give Our revelations, and who then discards them. Satan catches up with him and he strays, like many others, into error.
Had We so willed, We would have exalted him by means of those [revelations], but he clings to the earth and succumbs to his desires. He may be compared to a dog: no matter how you drive him off, he pants on away, and if you leave him alone, he still pants on. That is what the people who reject Our revelations are like. Tell them, then, such stories, so that they may take heed.
A dismal example is that provided by those who reject Our revelations; for it is against their own selves that they are sinning.
He whom God guides is on the right path; whereas those whom He lets go astray are indeed losers.
We have destined for Hell many of the jinn and many human beings; they have hearts they cannot understand with, and they have eyes with which they fail to see, and ears with which they fail to hear. They are like cattle; indeed, they are even further away from the right way. They are the truly heedless.
God has the finest names, so appeal to Him by these and stay away from those who blaspheme against His names. They shall be requited for all they do.
Among those whom We have created there is a community who guide others by means of the truth and with it establish justice.
As for those who deny Our revelations, We will lead them on, step by step, from whence they cannot tell;
for although I may give them respite, My subtle scheme is mighty.
Have they not thought things over? Their companion is no madman; he is only a plain warner.
Have they not considered [God’s] dominion over the heavens and the earth, and all that God has created, and [reflected] that it may well be that their own term is drawing near? In what other message after this will they, then, believe?
Those whom God lets go astray will have no guide; and He leaves them in their overweening arrogance to stumble along blindly.
They ask you about the Last Hour: ‘When will it come to pass?’ Say: ‘Knowledge of it rests with my Lord alone. None but He will reveal it at its appointed time. It will weigh heavily on the heavens and the earth; and it will not fall on you except suddenly’. They will ask you further as if you yourself persistently enquire about it. Say: ‘Knowledge of it rests with God alone, though most people remain unaware’.
Say: ‘It is not within my power to bring benefit to, or avert evil from, myself, except as God may please. Had I possessed knowledge of what lies beyond the reach of human perception, I would have availed myself of much that is good and no evil would have ever touched me. I am no more than one who gives warning, and a herald of good news to people who believe’.
It is He who has created you all from a single soul, and out of it brought into being its mate, so that he might incline with love towards her. When he has consorted with her, she conceives a light burden, which she carries with ease. Then, when she grows heavy, they both appeal to God, their Lord: ‘Grant us a goodly child and we will be truly grateful’.
Yet when He had granted them a goodly child, they associate with Him partners, particularly in respect of what He has granted them. Exalted is God above anything people may associate with Him as partners.
Do they associate with Him those that can create nothing, while they themselves have been created,
and neither can they give them any support nor can they even help themselves.
If you call them to guidance they will not follow you. It is all the same whether you call them or keep silent.
Those whom you invoke beside God are God’s servants, just like you. Invoke them, then, and let them answer you, if what you claim is true.
Have they, perchance, feet on which they could walk, or hands with which to grasp things, or eyes with which to see, or ears with which to hear? Say: ‘Appeal to those you claim to be partners with God, and scheme against me, and give me no respite.
‘My guardian is God who has bestowed this Book from on high. It is He who is the guardian of the righteous.
‘Those whom you invoke beside Him cannot give you any support, nor can they even help themselves.
‘If you pray to them for guidance, they will not hear you. You may see them looking at you but they do not see’.
Make due allowance for man’s nature, and enjoin the doing of what is right; and turn away from those who choose to remain ignorant.
If a prompting from Satan stirs you up, seek refuge with God; He hears all and knows all.
If those who are God-fearing experience a tempting thought from Satan, they bethink themselves [of God]; and they begin to see things clearly.
Their [evil] brethren try to draw them into error with unceasing determination.
When you do not bring them a sign, they say: ‘Why do you not seek to have one?’ Say: ‘I only follow what is revealed to me by my Lord: this [revelation] is a means of clear insight from your Lord, and a guidance and grace for people who will believe’.
When the Qur’an is recited, hearken to it, and listen in silence, so that you may be graced with God’s mercy.
And bethink yourself of your Lord humbly and with awe, and without raising your voice, in the morning and evening; and do not be negligent.
Those who are near to your Lord are never too proud to worship Him. They extol His limitless glory, and before Him alone prostrate themselves.
