— 182 verses
By those [angels] who range themselves in close rank
and those who drive away [the wicked] with reproof
and by the reciters of the Reminder
your God is One
Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything between them; Lord of the Easts
We have adorned the lowest heaven with the beauty of the planets
and guarded it against all rebellious devils
they cannot overhear the Higher Assembly for they are pelted from every side
driven away, and will suffer eternal punishment
But if anyone does succeed in snatching a glimpse [of such knowledge], he shall be pursued by a piercing flame
So, ask those who deny the truth if it was harder to create them than all the other things We have created? We created them from sticky clay
No wonder you are surprised as they laugh with scorn
When they are reminded, they do not pay heed
and whenever they see some sign, they ridicule it
saying, This is plain sorcery
What! When we have died and become dust and bones, will we be brought back to life again
along with our forefathers
Say, Yes indeed, and you will be brought low
There will be but a single blast and then their eyes will open
They will say, Woe to us! This is the Day of Reckoning
[It will be said], This is the Day of Judgement which you have been denying
But We shall say, Assemble those who did wrong together with their associates and what they worshippe
besides God, and lead them to the path of the Fire
and stop them there for questioning
But what is the matter with you that you cannot help one another
indeed, on that Day they will surrender themselves
They will turn upon one another, and question one another
They will say, You used to come at us from the right
They will say, No! It was you who would not believe
we had no power over you; but you yourselves were a rebellious people
But now our Lords word has come true against us: truly, we are bound to taste [the punishment]
We led you astray as we were ourselves astray
On that Day they will all share the punishment
that is how We deal with evil-doers
When they were told, There is no deity but God, they turned away with disdain
and replied, Shall we then give up our deities at the bidding of a mad poet
Surely, he has brought the truth, confirming those who were sent before
you shall surely taste the painful punishment
and be rewarded only according to your deeds
But the chosen servants of God
shall have a known provisio
fruits of various kinds; and they shall be honoured
in the Gardens of Bliss
seated on couches, facing one another
A drink will be passed round among them from a flowing spring
white and delicious to those who drink it
causing no headiness or intoxication
With them will be spousesmodest of gaze and beautiful of ey
like closely guarded pearls
They will turn to one another with questions
one of them will say, I had a friend
who used to ask, Do you really believe tha
after we die and become dust and bones, we shall be brought to judgement
Then he will say, Shall we look for him
Then he will look and see him in the midst of the Fire
He will say, By God! You almost brought me to ruin
If it had not been for the blessing of my Lord, I would also have been taken to Hell
Then he will say [to his blessed companions], Are we not going to die
except for our first death? Are we not going to be punished
Truly, this is a great victory
It is for the like of this that all should strive
Is that better by way of hospitality or the Zaqqum tree
which We have made as a test for the wrongdoers
For it is a tree that springs out of the bottom of Hellfire
and its fruits are like devils heads
They will eat from it and fill their bellies with it
then in addition to it they shall have a draught of boiling water to drink
then surely they shall return to Hell
They found their fathers had gone astray
so they are rushing to follow in their footsteps
And assuredly many of the ancients went astray before them
though We had sent warners among them
See how those who were warned met their end
Not so the chosen servants of God
Noah cried to Us, and how excellent was Our response
We saved him and his people from great distress
and We made his offspring the only survivors
We left mention of him among later generations
Peace be upon Noah among all the peoples
That is how We recompense the righteous
he was truly one of Our faithful servants
We drowned the rest
Abraham was of the same faith
he came to his Lord with a sound heart
Behold! he said to his father and to his people, What are these that you worship
Would you serve false deities instead of God
What do you think of the Lord of the Worlds
He looked up at the stars
And said, I am sick
so they turned their backs on him and went off
He turned to their gods and said, Do you not eat
What is the matter with you that you do not speak
then he turned on them, striking them down with his right hand
His people came rushing towards him
but he said, How can you worship things you carve with your own hands
when it is God who has created you and all your handiwork
They said, Build a pyre for him and throw him into the blaze
They wanted to harm him, but We humiliated them all
He said, I will go to my Lord: He is sure to guide me
Lord, grant me a righteous son
We gave him the good news that he would have a patient, forbearing son
And when he reached the age when he could work with him, he said, O my son, I have seen in a dream that I am sacrificing you. So tell me what you think of it! He replied, O my father, do as you are commanded; and God willing, you will find me steadfast
When they had both submitted to God, and he had laid his son down on his face
We called out to him, Abraham
you have fulfilled the dream. It is thus indeed that We reward those who do goo
that surely was a manifest trial
We ransomed him with a great sacrifice
and left him thus to be succeeded by a group [of followers] among later generations
Peace and salutation to Abraham
That is how We recompense the righteous
truly, he was one of Our faithful servants
We gave Abraham the good news of Isaaca prophet and a righteous ma
and blessed him and Isaac too: some of their offspring were good, but some clearly sinned against their souls
We also bestowed Our favour on Moses and Aaron
We saved them and their people from great distress
and We helped them, so that they were victorious
and We gave them the Book which helps to make things clear
and guided them to the straight path
and We left them thus to be succeeded by a group [of followers] among later generations
Peace be upon Moses and Aaron
This is how We reward those who do good
truly they were among Our faithful servants
Elijah too was one of the messengers
He said to his people, Have you no fear [of God?]
Do you call on Baal and abandon the Best of Creators
God your Lord and Lord of your forefathers
but they rejected him, and thus will certainly be called to account
except the chosen servants of God
We left him thus to be succeeded by a group [of followers] among the following generation
Peace be on Elijah and his people
It is thus indeed that We reward those who do good
surely he was one of Our believing servants
Lot was also one of the messengers
We saved him and all his people
except for an old woman who stayed behind
and We destroyed the rest
You pass by their ruins morning
and night: will you not take heed
Jonah too was one of the messengers
He fled to the overloaded ship
And then they cast lots and he was the one who lost
and the fish swallowed him while he was blaming himself
Had he not been one of those who acknowledge the glory of God
he would certainly have remained inside the fish till the Day of Resurrection
But We caused him to be cast forth on to the beach, sick as he was
and We caused a gourd tree to grow over him
We sent him as a messenger to a hundred thousand people or more
and they believed in him: so We let them live in ease for a while
Now ask them whether your Lord has daughters, whereas they have sons
Did We create the angels females, to which they were witnesses
No indeed! It is one of their fabrications when they say
God has begotten children.They are truly liars
Has He chosen daughters over sons
What is the matter with you? How do you form your judgement
Will you not then reflect
Or have you clear evidence
Then produce your scriptures, if you are telling the truth
They claim that He has kinship with the jinn, yet the jinn themselves know that they will be produced before Him [for judgement]
God is far above what they attribute to Hi
but not so the true servants of Go
neither you nor what you worship
can lure away from God an
except those who will burn in Hell
[The angels say], Every single one of us has his place assigned
we are those who stand ranged in ranks
We glorify God
They say
If we had had with us a Book like that of the people of old
we would surely have been God's chosen servants
but they have rejected it, [the Quran] and they shall soon learn
And surely Our word has gone forth respecting Our servants, the messengers
that it is certainly they who will be helped
and that it is Our host that would certainly triumph
So turn away from them for a while
Watch them: they will soon see
Do they really wish to hasten Our punishment
When it descends on their courtyards, how terrible that morning will be for those who were warned
So turn away from them for a while
And watch, for they will soon see
Glory be to your Lord: the Lord of Glory is far above what they attribute to Him
Peace be upon the Messenger
and praise be to God, the Lord of all the Worlds