Hizb 27

Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the signs of the Book and a manifest Quran.

Much will the faithless wish that they had been Muslims.

Leave them to eat and enjoy and to be diverted by longings. Soon they will know.

We did not destroy any town but that it had a known term.

No nation can advance its time nor can it defer it.

They said, ‘O you, to whom the Reminder has been sent down, you are indeed crazy.

Why do you not bring us the angels should you be truthful?!’

We do not send down the angels except with due reason, and then they will not be granted any respite.

Indeed We have sent down the Reminder, and indeed We will preserve it.

Certainly We sent [apostles] before you to former communities,

and there did not come to them any apostle but that they used to deride him.

That is how We let it pass through the hearts of the guilty:

they do not believe in it, and the precedent of the ancients has already passed.

Were We to open for them a gate of the sky, so that they could go on ascending through it,

they would surely say, ‘Indeed a spell has been cast on our eyes; indeed, we are a bewitched lot.’

Certainly We have appointed houses in the sky and adorned them for the onlookers,

and We have guarded them from every outcast Satan,

except someone who may eavesdrop, whereat there pursues him a manifest flame.

And We spread out the earth, and cast in it firm mountains, and We grew in it every kind of balanced thing,

and made in it [various] means of livelihood for you and for those whom you do not provide for.

There is not a thing but that its sources are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure.

And We send the fertilizing winds and send down water from the sky providing it for you to drink and you are not maintainers of its resources.

Indeed it is We who give life and bring death and We are the inheritors.

Certainly We know the predecessors among you and certainly We know the successors,

and indeed it is your Lord who will resurrect them. Indeed, He is all-wise, all-knowing.

Certainly We created man out of a dry clay [drawn] from an aging mud,

and We created the jinn earlier, out of a piercing fire.

When your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed I am going to create a human out of a dry clay [drawn] from an aging mud.

So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, then fall down in prostration before him.’

Thereat the angels prostrated, all of them together,

but not Iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated.

He said, ‘O Iblis! What kept you from being among those who have prostrated?’

Said he, ‘I will not prostrate before a human whom You have created out of a dry clay [drawn] from an aging mud.’

He said, ‘Begone hence, for you are indeed an outcast,

and indeed the curse shall lie on you until the Day of Retribution.’

He said, ‘My Lord! Respite me till the day they will be resurrected.’

Said He, ‘You are indeed among the reprieved

until the day of the known time.’

He said, ‘My Lord! As You have consigned me to perversity, I will surely glamorize [evil] for them on the earth, and I will surely pervert them, all

except Your dedicated servants among them.’

He said, ‘This is the path [leading] straight to Me.

Indeed, as for My servants you do not have any authority over them, except the perverse who follow you,

and indeed hell is the tryst of them all.

It has seven gates, and to each gate belongs a separate portion of them.’

Indeed the Godwary will be amid gardens and springs.

‘‘Enter it in peace and safety!’’

We will remove whatever rancour there is in their breasts; [intimate like] brothers, [they will be reclining] on couches, facing one another.

Therein neither weariness shall touch them, nor will they [ever] be expelled from it.

Inform my servants that I am indeed the All-forgiving, the All-merciful,

and that My punishment is a painful punishment.

And inform them about the guests of Abraham,

when they entered into his presence and said, ‘Peace!’ He said, ‘We are indeed afraid of you.’

They said, ‘Do not be afraid. Indeed we give you the good news of a wise son.’

He said, ‘Do you give me good news though old age has befallen me? What is the good news that you bring me?’

They said, ‘We bring you good news in truth; so do not be despondent.’

He said, ‘Who despairs of his Lord’s mercy except the astray?!’

He said, ‘O messengers, what is now your errand?’

They said, ‘We have been sent toward a guilty people,

[who shall perish] except the family of Lot. We will indeed deliver all of them,

except his wife, [who], We have ordained, will indeed be among those who remain behind.’

So when the messengers came to Lot’s family,

he said, ‘You are indeed strangers [to me].’

They said, ‘Indeed, we bring you what they used to doubt.

We bring you the truth, and indeed, we speak truly.

Take your family in a watch of the night; and follow in their rear, and none of you should turn round, and proceed as you are bidden.’

We apprised him of the matter that these will be rooted out by dawn.

The people of the city came, rejoicing.

He said, ‘These are indeed my guests. Do not bring dishonour on me.

Be wary of Allah and do not humiliate me.’

They said, ‘Did we not forbid you from [defending ] strangers?’

He said, ‘These are my daughters, [marry them] if you should do anything.’

By your life, they were bewildered in their drunkenness.

So the Cry seized them at sunrise,

and We made its topmost part its nethermost, and rained on them stones of shale.

There are indeed signs in that for the percipient.

Indeed it is on a standing road,

and there is indeed a sign in that for the faithful.

Indeed the inhabitants of Aykah were [also] wrongdoers.

So We took vengeance on them, and indeed the two of them are on an open highway.

Certainly the inhabitants of Hijr denied the apostles.

We had given them Our signs but they disregarded them.

They used to hew out dwellings from mountains feeling secure.

So the Cry seized them at dawn,

and what they used to earn did not avail them.

We did not create the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them except with consummate wisdom, and indeed the Hour is bound to come. So forbear with a graceful forbearance.

Indeed your Lord is the All-creator, the All-knowing.

Certainly We have given you [the surah of] the seven oft-repeated verses and the great Quran.

Do not extend your glance toward what We have provided to certain groups of them, and do not grieve for them, and lower your wing to the faithful,

and say, ‘I am indeed a manifest warner [of punishment from God],’

like that We sent down upon those who split into bands,

who represented the Quran as magic.

By your Lord, We will question them all

concerning what they used to do.

So proclaim what you have been commanded, and turn away from the polytheists.

Indeed We will suffice you against the deriders

—those who set up another deity besides Allah. Soon they will know!

Certainly We know that you become upset because of what they say.

So celebrate the praise of your Lord and be among those who prostrate,

and worship your Lord until certainty comes to you.

Allah’s edict is coming! So do not seek to hasten it. Immaculate is He and exalted above [having] any partners that they ascribe [to Him].

He sends down the angels with the spirit of His command to whomever He wishes of His servants: ‘Warn [the people] that there is no god except Me; so be wary of Me.’

He created the heavens and the earth with consummate wisdom. He is above having any partners that they ascribe [to Him].

He created man from a drop of [seminal] fluid, and, behold, he is an open contender!

He created the cattle, in which there is warmth for you and [other] uses, and some of them you eat.

There is in them a beauty for you when you bring them home for rest and when you drive them forth to pasture.

And they bear your burdens to towns, which you could not reach except by straining yourselves. Indeed your Lord is most kind and merciful.

And horses, mules and asses, for you to ride them, and for pomp, and He creates what you do not know.

With Allah rests guidance to the straight path, and some of the paths are devious, and had He wished He would have guided you all.

It is He who sends down water from the sky: from it you get your drink and with it are [sustained] the plants wherein you pasture your herds.

For you He makes the crops grow with it and olives, date palms, vines, and fruits of all kinds. There is indeed a sign in that for a people who reflect.

He disposed the night and the day for you, and the sun, the moon and the stars are disposed by His command. There are indeed signs in that for people who exercise their reason.

And [He disposed for your benefit] whatever He has created for you in the earth of diverse hues—there is indeed a sign in that for a people who take admonition.

It is He who disposed the sea [for your benefit] that you may eat from it fresh meat, and obtain from it ornaments which you wear, and you see the ships plowing through it, that you may seek His bounty and that you may give thanks.

He cast firm mountains in the earth lest it should shake with you, and [made] streams and ways, so that you may be guided

—and the landmarks [as well]—and by the stars they are guided.

Is He who creates like one who does not create? Will you not then take admonition?

If you enumerate Allah’s blessings, you will not be able to count them. Indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful,

and Allah knows whatever you hide and whatever you disclose.

Those whom they invoke besides Allah do not create anything and are themselves created.

They are dead and lifeless, and are not aware when they will be resurrected.

Your God is the One God. Those who do not believe in the Hereafter, their hearts are in denial [of the truth], and they are arrogant.

Undoubtedly, Allah knows whatever they hide and whatever they disclose. Indeed, He does not like the arrogant.

When they are asked, ‘What is it that your Lord has sent down?’ They say, ‘Myths of the ancients,’

[with the result] that they will bear the full weight of their own burden on the Day of Resurrection, along with part of the burden of those whom they mislead without any knowledge. Behold! Evil is what they bear!

Those who were before them [had also] schemed. Then Allah came at their edifice from the foundations and the roof fell down upon them from above and the punishment overtook them whence they were not aware.

Then, on the Day of Resurrection, He will disgrace them, and say, ‘Where are My “partners” for whose sake you used to defy [Allah]?’ Those who were given knowledge will say, ‘Indeed today disgrace and distress pursue the faithless.’

—Those whom the angels take away while they were wronging themselves. Thereat they submit: ‘We were not doing any evil!’ ‘Yes, [the angels say to them,] indeed Allah knows best what you used to do!

Enter the gates of hell to remain in it [forever]. Evil is the [final] abode of the arrogant.’

But those who were Godwary will be asked, ‘What is it that your Lord has sent down?’ They will say, ‘Good.’ For those who do good in this world there will be a good [reward], and the abode of the Hereafter is better, and the abode of the Godwary is surely excellent:

the Gardens of Eden, which they will enter, with streams running in them. There they will have whatever they wish, and thus does Allah reward the Godwary

—those whom the angels take away while they are pure. They say [to them], ‘Peace be to you! Enter paradise because of what you used to do.’

Do they not consider that the angels may come to them, or your Lord’s edict may come? Those who were before them had acted likewise; Allah did not wrong them, but they used to wrong themselves.

So the evils of what they had earned visited them, and they were besieged by what they used to deride.

The polytheists say, ‘Had Allah wished, we would not have worshiped anything besides Him—neither we, nor our fathers—nor we would have forbidden anything without His sanction.’ Those who were before them had acted likewise. Is the apostles’ duty anything but to communicate in clear terms?

Certainly We raised an apostle in every nation [to preach:] ‘Worship Allah, and shun fake deities.’ Among them were some whom Allah guided, and among them were some who deserved to be in error. So travel over the land and observe how was the fate of the deniers.

Even if you are eager for them to be guided, indeed Allah does not guide those who mislead [others], and they will have no helpers.

They swear by Allah with solemn oaths that Allah will not resurrect those who die. Yes indeed [He will], it is a promise binding upon Him, but most people do not know,

so that He may clarify for them what they differ about, and that the faithless may know that they were liars.

All that We say to a thing, when We will it, is to say to it ‘Be!’ and it is.

Those who migrate for the sake of Allah after they have been wronged, We will surely settle them in a good place in the world, and the reward of the Hereafter is surely greater, had they known

—those who are patient and who put their trust in their Lord.

We did not send [any apostles] before you except as men to whom We revealed. Ask the People of the Reminder if you do not know.

[We sent them] with manifest proofs and scriptures. We have sent down the reminder to you so that you may clarify for the people that which has been sent down to them, so that they may reflect.

Do those who devise evil schemes feel secure that Allah will not make the earth swallow them, or the punishment will not overtake them whence they are not aware?

Or that He will not seize them in the midst of their bustle, whereupon they will not be able to frustrate [Him]?

Or that He will not visit them with attrition? Indeed your Lord is most kind and merciful.

Have they not regarded that whatever thing Allah has created casts its shadow to the right and to the left, prostrating to Allah in utter humility?

To Allah prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, including animals and angels, and they are not arrogant.

They fear their Lord above them, and do what they are commanded.