— 88 verses
Sad By the Quran, full of admonition
Those who deny the truth are steeped in arrogance and hostility
How many generations We have destroyed before them! And they cried out when it was too late to escape
They are surprised that a warner should come to them from among themselves. They say, This is a magician, a great liar
Does he make all the deities out to be one God? This is indeed a strange thing
Their leaders departed, saying, Walk away! Hold fast to your deities. This is clearly a conspiracy
We have not heard of any such thing in the old religion. This is nothing but a fabrication
Was the message sent only to him out of all of us? In fact, they doubt My warning; in fact, they have not yet tasted My punishment
Do they possess the treasures of the mercy of your Lord, the Mighty, the Great Bestower
Have they control over heavens and earth and whatever [lies] between them? Then let them climb up to heaven by ropes
this host too, among other hosts, is bound to suffer defeat
Before them the people of Noah denied the truth, as did the Ad and Pharaoh of the Stakes
and the tribe of Thamud, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers of the Woodthese were the confederates
There was not one of them but treated their messengers as liars, so My punishment rightly overtook them
they have only to wait for one single blast [of punishment]: it shall not be delayed by one whit
They say: Our Lord! Hasten on for us our fate before the Day of Reckoning
Bear with their words patiently. Remember Our servant David, a man of strength who always turned to Us
We made the mountains join him in glorifying Us at sunset and sunrise
and the birds, too, in flocks, all turned to Him
We made his kingdom strong, and bestowed upon him wisdom and sagacity in judgement
Have you heard the story of the disputants who entered his chamber by climbing over the wall
When they reached David, he took fright, but they said, Do not be afraid. We are two disputants, one of whom has wronged the other: judge between us fairlydo not be unjustand guide us to the right path
This brother of mine has ninety-nine ewes and I have only one. He said, Let me have charge of it, and got the better of me with his words
David said, He has certainly wronged you by demanding that your ewe be added to his ewes! Thus many partners wrong one another [all] save those who believe [in God] and do righteous deeds: but how few are they! And [suddenly] David understood that We were only putting him to the test, and so he asked his Lord to forgive him his sins; he fell to his knees, and turned to Him in repentance
We forgave him his sins. His reward will be nearness to Us, a good place to return to
We said, David, We have given you mastery over the land. Judge fairly between people. Do not follow your desires, lest they divert you from God's path: those who wander from His path will have a severe punishment, because they ignore the Day of Reckoning
We did not create heaven and earth and all that is between them in vain. That is the opinion of those who deny the truth. Woe betide those who deny the truth, when they are cast into the Fir
shall We treat those who believe and do good works the same as those who spread corruption in the land; shall We treat the pious the same as the wicked
This is a blessed Book which We sent down to you [Muhammad], for people to ponder over its messages, and for those with understanding to take heed
We gave David Solomon. He was an excellent servant who always turned to God
When well-bred horses, which were fleet of foot were paraded before him near the close of day
he said, I have put the love of good things above the remembrance of my Lorduntil [the sun] disappeared behind its veil and the horses disappeared from sigh
Bring them back to me![he said] and began to stroke their legs and their necks
We tried Solomon by placing upon his throne a [lifeless] body; and thereupon he turned towards Us]
He prayed, Lord forgive me! Grant me such power as no one after me will haveYou are the Most Generous Provider
Then We subjected the wind to his power, so that it blew gently, at his behest, wherever he willed
and also the jinn every kind of builder and dive
and others chained in fetters
We said: This is Our gift, so give or withhold as you wish without reckoning
His reward will be nearness to Us, a good place to return to
Bring to mind Our servant Job who cried to his Lord, Satan has afflicted me with distress and suffering
We said, Stamp your foot! Here is cool water for you to wash in and drink
We restored his family to him, doubling their number as an act of grace from Us, and as a reminder to all who are endowed with insight
We said to Him, Take a handful of twigs in your hand and strike with that but do not break your oath. We found him steadfast. What an excellent servant! He turned constantly to his Lord.[35]
Remember Our servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob possessors of strength and vision
We chose them for a special [purpose]proclaiming the message of the Hereafter
and, in Our sight they were indeed among the select, the truly good
Remember [Our servants] Ishmael, Elisha, and Dhul-Kifl. Each of them was among the just
This is a Reminder. The righteous shall have a good place to return to
the Gardens of eternity with gates thrown wide open to them
They will be comfortably seated; reclining, they will call for abundant fruit and drink
with them, they will have pure, modest women of an equal age
This is what you were promised on the Day of Reckoning
Our provision for you will never be exhausted
But the arrogant will have the worst return
they will burn, in Hell, an evil resting place
all this will be theirs; let them taste ita scalding, dark, foul fluid
and other such torments
[And they will say to one another: Do you see] this crowd of people rushing headlong to join you? No welcome to them! Indeed, they are headed for the fire
They will say to them, You are not welcome! It was you who brought this on us, an evil place to stay
adding, Our Lord, give double punishment to those who brought this upon us
And they will say, How is it that we do not see [here any of the] men whom we used to count among the wicked
[and] whom we made the target of our derision? Or are they here, and our eyes have missed them
All this is certainly truethe inhabitants of the Fire will blame one another in this way
Say, [Prophet], I am only a warner. There is no god but God, the One, the All-Powerful
Lord of the heavens and earth and everything between them, the Almighty, the Most Forgiving
Say, This is momentous news
yet you ignore it
I had no knowledge of the Exalted Assembly when they argued [against the creation of man]
it has only been revealed to me that I am a plain warner
Your Lord said to the angels, I am about to create a human being out of clay
and when I have formed him fully and breathed My spirit into him, prostrate yourselves before him
Thereupon the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together
but not Satan, who was too proud. He became one of those who deny the truth
God said, Satan, what prevented you from prostrating yourself to what I created with My own Hands? Were you overcome by arrogance, or are you of those who think [only] of themselves as exalted
Satan replied, I am better than him. You created me from fire, but You created him from clay
Begone! You are accursed
My curse will remain upon you till the Day of Judgement
But Satan said, My Lord, grant me respite until the Day of Resurrection
so He said, You are granted respite
till the Appointed Day
He said, By Your Honour, I will lead all of them astray
except for those among them who are Your chosen servants
God said, This is the truthI speak only the truth
I will fill up Hell with you and every one of them who follows you
Say, I do not ask you for any recompense for this, nor am I a man of false pretentions
this is simply an admonition to mankind
you shall before long know its truth