Hizb 31

He said, ‘Did I not tell you that you cannot have patience with me?’

He said, ‘If I question you about anything after this, do not keep me in your company. You already have enough excuse on my part.’

So they went on until they came to the people of a town. They asked its people for food, but they refused to extend them any hospitality. There they found a wall which was about to collapse, so he erected it. He said, ‘Had you wished, you could have taken a wage for it.’

He said, ‘This is where you and I shall part. I will inform you about the interpretation of that over which you could not maintain patience.

As for the boat, it belonged to some poor people who work on the sea. I wanted to make it defective, for behind them was a king seizing every ship usurpingly.

As for the boy, his parents were faithful [persons], and We feared he would overwhelm them with rebellion and unfaith.

So We desired that their Lord should give them in exchange one better than him in respect of purity and closer in mercy.

As for the wall, it belonged to two boy orphans in the city. Under it there was a treasure belonging to them. Their father had been a righteous man. So your Lord desired that they should come of age and take out their treasure—as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do that out of my own accord. This is the interpretation of that over which you could not maintain patience.’

They question you concerning Dhul Qarnayn. Say, ‘I will relate to you an account of him.’

Indeed We had granted him power in the land and given him the means to all things.

So he directed a means.

When he reached the place where the sun sets, he found it setting over a warm sea, and by it he found a people. We said, ‘O Dhul Qarnayn! You will either punish them, or treat them with kindness.’

He said, ‘As for him who is a wrongdoer, we will punish him. Then he shall be returned to his Lord and He will punish him with a dire punishment.

But as for him who has faith and acts righteously, he shall have the best reward, and we will assign him easy tasks under our command.’

Thereafter he directed another means.

When he reached the place where the sun rises, he found it rising on a people for whom We had not provided any shield against it.

So it was, and We were fully aware of whatever [means] he possessed.

Thereafter he directed another means.

When he reached [the place] between the two barriers, he found between them a people who could hardly understand a word [of his language].

They said, ‘O Dhul Qarnayn! Indeed Gog and Magog are causing disaster in this land. Shall we pay you a tribute on condition that you build a barrier between them and us?’

He said, ‘What my Lord has furnished me is better. Yet help me with some strength, and I will make a bulwark between you and them.

Bring me pieces of iron!’ When he had levelled up between the flanks, he said, ‘Blow!’ When he had turned it into fire, he said, ‘Bring me molten copper to pour over it.’

So they could neither scale it, nor could they make a hole in it.

He said, ‘This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord is fulfilled, He will level it; and my Lord’s promise is true.’

That day We shall let them surge over one another, the Trumpet will be blown, and We shall gather them all,

and on that day We shall bring hell into view visibly for the faithless.

—Those whose eyes were blind to My remembrance and who could not hear.

Do the faithless suppose that they have taken My servants for guardians in My stead? Indeed, We have prepared hell for the hospitality of the faithless.

Say, ‘Shall we inform you who are the biggest losers in their works?

Those whose efforts are misguided in the life of the world, while they suppose they are doing good.’

They are the ones who deny the signs of their Lord and encounter with Him. So their works have failed. On the Day of Resurrection We will not give them any weight.

That is their requital—hell—because of their unfaith and for deriding My signs and apostles.

As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds, they shall have the gardens of Firdaws for abode,

to remain in them [forever]; they will not seek to leave it for another place.

Say, ‘If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be spent before the words of my Lord are finished, though We replenish it with another like it.’

Say, ‘I am just a human being like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is the One God. So whoever expects to encounter his Lord—let him act righteously, and not associate anyone with the worship of his Lord.’

Kaf, Ha, Ya, ‘Ayn, Suad.

[This is] an account of your Lord’s mercy on His servant, Zechariah,

when he called out to his Lord with a secret cry.

He said, ‘My Lord! Indeed my bones have become feeble, and my head has turned white with age, yet never have I, my Lord, been disappointed in supplicating You!

Indeed I fear my kinsmen, after me, and my wife is barren. So grant me from Yourself an heir

who may inherit from me and inherit from the House of Jacob, and make him, my Lord, pleasing [to You]!’

‘O Zechariah! Indeed We give you the good news of a son, whose name is ‘‘John.’’ Never before have We made anyone his namesake.’

He said, ‘My Lord! How shall I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I am already advanced in age?’

He said, ‘So shall it be. Your Lord has said, ‘‘It is simple for Me.’’ Certainly I created you before when you were nothing.’

He said, ‘My Lord! Appoint a sign for me.’ He said, ‘Your sign is that you will not speak to the people for three complete nights.’

So he emerged before his people from the Temple, and signalled to them that they should glorify [Allah] morning and evening.

‘O John!’ [We said,] ‘Hold on with power to the Book!’ And We gave him judgement while still a child,

and a compassion and purity from Us. He was Godwary

and good to his parents, and was not self-willed or disobedient.

Peace be to him, the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he is raised alive!

And mention in the Book Mary, when she withdrew from her family to an easterly place.

Thus did she seclude herself from them, whereupon We sent to her Our Spirit and he became incarnate for her as a well-proportioned human.

She said, ‘I seek the protection of the All-beneficent from you, should you be Godwary!’

He said, ‘I am only a messenger of your Lord that I may give you a pure son.’

She said, ‘How shall I have a child seeing that no human being has ever touched me, nor have I been unchaste?’

He said, ‘So shall it be. Your Lord says, ‘‘It is simple for Me.’’ And so that We may make him a sign for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a matter [already] decided.’

Thus she conceived him, then withdrew with him to a distant place.

The birth pangs brought her to the trunk of a date palm. She said, ‘I wish I had died before this and become a forgotten thing, beyond recall.’

Thereupon he called her from below her [saying,] ‘Do not grieve! Your Lord has made a spring to flow at your feet.

Shake the trunk of the palm tree, freshly picked dates will drop upon you.

Eat, drink, and be comforted. Then if you see any human, say, ‘‘Indeed I have vowed a fast to the All-beneficent, so I will not speak to any human today.’’ ’

Then carrying him she brought him to her people. They said, ‘O Mary, you have certainly come up with an odd thing!

O sister of Aaron[’s lineage]! Your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother unchaste.’

Thereat she pointed to him. They said, ‘How can we speak to one who is yet a baby in the cradle?’

He said, ‘Indeed I am a servant of Allah! He has given me the Book and made me a prophet.

He has made me blessed, wherever I may be, and He has enjoined me to [maintain] the prayer and to [pay] the zakat as long as I live,

and to be good to my mother, and He has not made me self-willed and wretched.

Peace to me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised alive.’

That is Jesus, son of Mary, a Word of the Real concerning whom they are in doubt.

It is not for Allah to take a son. Immaculate is He! When He decides on a matter, He just says to it, ‘Be!’ and it is.

[And Jesus said,] ‘Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him. This is a straight path.’

But the factions differed among themselves. So woe to the faithless at the scene of a tremendous day.

How well they will hear and how well they will see on the day when they come to Us! But today the wrongdoers are in manifest error.

Warn them of the Day of Regret, when the matter will be decided, while they are [yet] heedless and do not have faith.

Indeed We shall inherit the earth and whoever there is on it, and to Us they shall be brought back.

And mention in the Book Abraham. Indeed, he was a truthful man and a prophet.

When he said to his father, ‘Father! Why do you worship that which neither hears nor sees, and is of no avail to you in any way?

Father! Indeed a knowledge has already come to me, which has not come to you. So follow me that I may guide you to a right path.

Father! Do not worship Satan. Indeed Satan is disobedient to the All-beneficent.

Father! I am indeed afraid that a punishment from the All-beneficent will befall you, and you will become Satan’s accomplice.’

He said, ‘Abraham! Are you renouncing my gods? If you do not desist, I will stone you. Get away from me for a long while.’

He said, ‘Peace be to you! I shall plead with my Lord to forgive you. Indeed, He is gracious to me.

I dissociate myself from you and whatever you invoke besides Allah. I will supplicate my Lord. Hopefully, I will not be disappointed in supplicating my Lord.’

So when he had left them and what they worshipped besides Allah, We gave him Isaac and Jacob, and each We made a prophet.

And We gave them out of Our mercy, and conferred on them a worthy and lofty repute.

And mention in the Book Moses. Indeed he was exclusively dedicated [to Allah], and an apostle and prophet.

We called him from the right side of the Mount and We drew him near [to Ourselves] for confidential discourse.

And We gave him out of Our mercy his brother Aaron, a prophet.

And mention in the Book Ishmael. Indeed, he was true to his promise, and an apostle and prophet.

He used to bid his family to [maintain] the prayer and to [pay] the zakat, and was pleasing to his Lord.

And mention in the Book Idrees. Indeed, he was a truthful one and a prophet,

and We raised him to an exalted station.

They are the ones whom Allah has blessed from among the prophets of Adam’s progeny, and from [the progeny of] those We carried with Noah, and from among the progeny of Abraham and Israel, and from among those that We guided and chose. When the signs of the All-beneficent were recited to them, they would fall down weeping in prostration.

But they were succeeded by an evil posterity who neglected the prayer, and followed [their base] appetites. So they will soon encounter [the reward of] perversity,

barring those who repent, believe, and act righteously. Such will enter paradise, and they will not be wronged in the least.

Gardens of Eden promised by the All-beneficent to His servants, [while they were still] unseen. Indeed His promise is bound to come to pass.

Therein they will not hear vain talk, but only ‘Peace!’ Therein they will have their provision morning and evening.

This is the paradise We will give as inheritance to those of Our servants who are Godwary.

[O Gabriel, tell the Prophet,] ‘We do not descend except by the command of your Lord. To Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is in between that, and your Lord does not forget

—the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. So worship Him and be steadfast in His worship. Do you know anyone who could be His namesake?’

Man says, ‘What? Shall I be brought forth alive [from the grave], when I have been dead?’

Does not man remember that We created him before when he was nothing?

By your Lord, We will surely gather them with the devils; then We will surely bring them up around hell [scrambling] on their knees.

Then from every group We shall draw whichever of them was more defiant towards the All-beneficent.

Then surely We will know best those who deserve most to enter it.

There is none of you but will come to it: a [matter that is a] decided certainty with your Lord.

Then We will deliver those who are Godwary, and leave the wrongdoers in it, fallen on their knees.

When Our manifest signs are recited to them, the faithless say to the faithful, ‘Which of the two groups is superior in station and better with respect to company?’

How many a generation We have destroyed before them, who were superior in furnishings and appearance!

Say, ‘Whoever abides in error, the All-beneficent shall prolong his respite until they sight what they have been promised: either punishment, or the Hour.’ Then they will know whose position is worse, and whose host is weaker.

Allah enhances in guidance those who are [rightly] guided, and lasting righteous deeds are better with your Lord in reward, and better at the return [to Allah].

Have you not regarded him who defies Our signs, and says, ‘I will surely be given wealth and children’?

Has he come to know the Unseen, or taken a promise from the All-beneficent?

No indeed! We will write down what he says, and We will prolong his punishment endlessly.

We shall take over from him what he talks about, and he will come to Us alone.

They have taken gods besides Allah that they may be a [source of] might to them.

No Indeed! Soon they will disown their worship, and they will be their opponents.

Have you not regarded that We unleash the devils upon the faithless to urge them vigorously?

So do not make haste against them; indeed We are counting for them, a counting [down].

The day We shall gather the Godwary toward the All-beneficent, on mounts,

and drive the guilty as a thirsty herd towards hell,

no one will have the power to intercede [with Allah], except for him who has taken a covenant with the All-beneficent.

They say, ‘The All-beneficent has taken a son!’

You have certainly advanced something hideous!

The heavens are about to be rent apart at it, the earth to split open, and the mountains to collapse into bits,

that they should ascribe a son to the All-beneficent!

It does not behoove the All-beneficent to take a son.

There is none in the heavens and the earth but he comes to the All-beneficent as a servant.

Certainly He has counted them [all] and numbered them precisely,

and each of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection.

Indeed those who have faith and do righteous deeds—the All-beneficent will endear them [to His creation].

Indeed We have made it simple in your language so that you may give good news thereby to the Godwary and warn with it a disputatious lot.

How many a generation We have destroyed before them! Can you descry any one of them, or hear from them so much as a murmur?