Hizb 18

When We plucked the mountain [and held it] above them as if it were a canopy (and they thought it was about to fall on them): ‘Hold on with power to what We have given you and remember that which is in it, so that you may be Godwary.’

When your Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their descendants and made them bear witness over themselves, [He said to them,] ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes indeed! We bear witness.’ [This,] lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Indeed we were unaware of this,’

or lest you should say, ‘Our fathers ascribed partners [to Allah] before [us] and we were descendants after them. Will You then destroy us because of what the falsifiers have done?’

Thus do We elaborate the signs, so that they may come back.

Relate to them an account of him to whom We gave Our signs, but he cast them off. Thereupon Satan pursued him, and he became one of the perverse.

Had We wished, We would have surely raised him by their means, but he clung to the earth and followed his [base] desires. So his parable is that of a dog: if you make for it, it lolls out its tongue, and if you let it alone, it lolls out its tongue. Such is the parable of the people who deny Our signs. So recount these narratives, so that they may reflect.

Evil is the parable of the people who deny Our signs and wrong themselves.

Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided, and whomever He leads astray—it is they who are the losers.

Certainly We have winnowed out for hell many of the jinn and humans: they have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, they have ears with which they do not hear. They are like cattle; indeed, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.

To Allah belong the Best Names, so supplicate Him by them, and abandon those who commit sacrilege in His names. Soon they shall be requited for what they used to do.

Among those We have created are a nation who guide by the truth and do justice thereby.

As for those who deny Our signs, We will draw them imperceptibly [into ruin], whence they do not know.

And I will grant them respite, for My devising is indeed sure.

Have they not reflected that there is no madness in their companion, [and that] he is just a manifest warner?

Have they not contemplated the dominions of the heavens and the earth, and whatever things Allah has created, and that maybe their time has already drawn near? So what discourse will they believe after this?!

Whomever Allah leads astray has no guide, and He leaves them bewildered in their rebellion.

They question you concerning the Hour, when will it set in? Say, ‘Its knowledge is only with my Lord: none except Him shall manifest it at its time. It will weigh heavy on the heavens and the earth. It will not overtake you but suddenly.’ They ask you as if you were in the know of it. Say, ‘Its knowledge is only with Allah, but most people do not know.’

Say, ‘I have no control over any benefit for myself, nor [over] any harm except what Allah may wish. Had I known the Unseen, I would have acquired much good, and no ill would have befallen me. I am only a warner and bearer of good news to a people who have faith.’

It is He who created you from a single soul, and made from it its mate, that he might find comfort with her. So when he had covered her, she bore a light burden and passed [some time] with it. When she had grown heavy, they both invoked Allah, their Lord: ‘If You give us a healthy [child], we will be surely grateful.’

Then when He gave them a healthy [child], they ascribed partners to Him in what He had given them. Exalted is Allah above [having] any partners that they ascribe [to Him]!

Do they ascribe [to Him] partners that create nothing and have been created themselves,

and can neither help them, nor help themselves?

If you call them to guidance, they will not follow you: it is the same to you whether you call them or whether you are silent.

Indeed those whom you invoke besides Allah are creatures like you. So invoke them: they should answer you, if you are truthful.

Do they have any feet to walk with? Do they have any hands to grasp with? Do they have any eyes to see with? Do they have any ears to hear with? Say, ‘Invoke your partners [that you ascribe to Allah] and try out your stratagems against me without granting me any respite.

My guardian is indeed Allah who sent down the Book, and He takes care of the righteous.

Those whom you invoke besides Him can neither help you, nor help themselves.

If you call them to guidance, they will not hear. You see them facing you, but they do not see.’

Adopt [a policy of] excusing [the faults of people], bid what is right, and turn away from the ignorant.

Should a temptation from Satan disturb you, invoke the protection of Allah; indeed He is all-hearing, all-knowing.

When those who are Godwary are touched by a visitation of Satan, they remember [Allah] and, behold, they perceive.

But their brethren, they draw them into error, and then they do not spare [any harm].

When you do not bring them a sign, they say, ‘Why do you not improvise one?’ Say, ‘I only follow what is revealed to me from my Lord; these are insights from your Lord, and a guidance and mercy for a people who have faith.’

When the Quran is recited, listen to it and be silent, maybe you will receive [Allah’s] mercy.

And remember your Lord within your heart beseechingly and reverentially, without being loud, morning, and evening, and do not be among the heedless.

Indeed those who are [stationed] near your Lord do not disdain to worship Him. They glorify Him and prostrate to Him.

They ask you concerning the anfaal. Say, ‘The anfaal belong to Allah and the Apostle.’ So be wary of Allah and settle your differences, and obey Allah and His Apostle, should you be faithful.

The faithful are only those whose hearts tremble [with awe] when Allah is mentioned, and when His signs are recited to them, they increase their faith, and who put their trust in their Lord,

maintain the prayer and spend out of what We have provided them.

It is they who are truly the faithful. They shall have ranks near their Lord, forgiveness and a noble provision.

As your Lord brought you out from your home with a just cause, a part of the faithful were indeed reluctant.

They disputed with you concerning the truth after it had become clear, as if they were being driven towards death as they looked on.

When Allah promised you [victory over] one of the two companies, [saying], ‘It is for you,’ you were eager that it should be the one that was unarmed. But Allah desires to confirm the truth with His words, and to root out the faithless,

so that He may confirm the truth and bring falsehood to naught, though the guilty should be averse.

When you appealed to your Lord for help, He answered you: ‘I will aid you with a thousand angels in a file.’

Allah did not appoint it but as a good news, and to reassure your hearts. Victory comes only from Allah. Indeed Allah is all-mighty, all-wise.

When He covered you with a trance as a [sense of] security from Him, and He sent down water from the sky to purify you with it, and to repel from you the defilement of Satan, and to fortify your hearts, and to make [your] feet steady with it.

Then your Lord signaled to the angels: ‘I am indeed with you; so steady the faithful. I will cast terror into the hearts of the faithless. So strike their necks, and strike their every limb joint!’

That, because they defied Allah and His Apostle. And whoever defies Allah and His Apostle, Allah is indeed severe in retribution.

‘Taste this, and [know] that for the faithless is the punishment of the Fire.’

O you who have faith! When you encounter the faithless advancing [for battle], do not turn your backs [to flee] from them.

Whoever turns his back [to flee] from them that day—unless [he is] diverting to fight or retiring towards another troop—shall certainly earn Allah’s wrath, and his refuge shall be hell, an evil destination.

You did not kill them; rather, it was Allah who killed them; and you did not throw when you threw, rather, it was Allah who threw, that He might test the faithful with a good test from Himself. Indeed Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing.

Such is the case, and [know] that Allah undermines the stratagems of the faithless.

If you sought a verdict, the verdict has certainly come to you; and if you cease [your belligerence against the Prophet and his followers], it is better for you, but if you resume, We [too] shall return and your troops will never avail you though they should be ever so many, and [know] that Allah is with the faithful.

O you who have faith! Obey Allah and His Apostle, and do not turn away from him while you hear [him].

Do not be like those who say, ‘We hear,’ though they do not hear.

Indeed the worst of beasts in Allah’s sight are the deaf and dumb who do not exercise their reason.

Had Allah known any good in them, He would have surely made them hear, and were He to make them hear, surely they would turn away, being disregardful.

O you who have faith! Answer Allah and the Apostle when he summons you to that which will give you life. Know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart and that toward Him you will be mustered.

And beware of a punishment, which shall not visit the wrongdoers among you exclusively, and know that Allah is severe in retribution.

Remember when you were few, abased in the land, and feared lest the people should despoil you, and He gave you refuge, and strengthened you with His help, and provided you with all the good things so that you may give thanks.

O you who have faith! Do not betray Allah and the Apostle, and do not betray your trusts knowingly.

Know that your possessions and children are only a test, and that Allah—with Him is a great reward.

O you who have faith! If you are wary of Allah, He shall appoint a criterion for you, and absolve you of your misdeeds, and forgive you, for Allah is dispenser of a great grace.

When the faithless plotted against you to take you captive, or to kill or expel you—they plotted and Allah devised, and Allah is the best of devisers.

When Our signs are recited to them, they say, ‘We have heard already. If we want, we [too] can say like this. These are nothing but myths of the ancients.’

And when they said, ‘O Allah, if this be the truth from You, rain down upon us stones from the sky, or bring us a painful punishment.’

But Allah will not punish them while you are in their midst, nor will Allah punish them while they plead for forgiveness.

What [excuse] have they that Allah should not punish them, when they bar [the faithful] from the Holy Mosque, and they are not its custodians? Its custodians are only the Godwary, but most of them do not know.

Their prayer at the House is nothing but whistling and clapping. So taste the punishment because of what you used to defy.

Indeed the faithless spend their wealth to bar from the way of Allah. Soon they will have spent it, then it will be a cause of regret to them, then they will be overcome, and the faithless will be gathered toward Hell,

so that Allah may separate the bad ones from the good, and place the bad on one another, and pile them up together, and cast them into hell. It is they who are the losers.

Say to the faithless, if they cease [their belligerence against the Muslims], what is already past shall be forgiven them. But if they resume [their hostilities], then the precedent of the predecessors has already come to pass.

Fight them until persecution is no more, and religion becomes exclusively for Allah. So if they desist, Allah indeed watches what they do.

But if they turn away, then know that Allah is your master: an excellent master and an excellent helper!