Hizb 46

Then We cast him on a bare shore, and he was sick.

So We made a gourd plant grow above him.

We sent him to a [community of] hundred thousand or more,

and they believed [in him]. So We provided for them for a while.

Ask them, are daughters to be for your Lord while sons are to be for them?

Did We create the angels females while they were present?

Be aware that it is out of their mendacity that they say,

‘Allah has begotten [offsprings],’ and they indeed speak a falsehood.

Has He preferred daughters to sons?

What is the matter with you? How do you judge?

Will you not then take admonition?

Do you have a manifest authority?

Then produce your scripture, should you be truthful.

And they have set up a kinship between Him and the jinn, while the jinn certainly know that they will be presented [before Him].

Clear is Allah of whatever they allege [about Him]

—[all] except Allah’s exclusive servants.

Indeed you and what you worship

cannot mislead [anyone] about Him,

except someone who is bound for hell.

‘There is none among us but has a known place.

It is we who are the ranged ones.

It is we who celebrate Allah’s glory.’

They indeed, used to say,

‘Had we possessed a Reminder from our predecessors,

we would have surely been Allah’s exclusive servants.’

But they disbelieved it [when it came to them]. Soon they will know!

Certainly Our decree has gone beforehand in favour of Our servants, the apostles,

that they will indeed receive [Allah’s] help,

and indeed Our hosts will be the victors.

So leave them alone for a while,

and watch them; soon they will see [the truth of the matter]!

Do they seek to hasten Our punishment?

But when it descends in their courtyard it will be a dismal dawn for those who had been warned.

So leave them alone for a while,

and watch; soon they will see!

Clear is your Lord, the Lord of Might, of whatever they allege [concerning Him].

Peace be to the apostles!

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.

Suad. By the Quran bearing the Reminder,

the faithless indeed dwell in conceit and defiance.

How many a generation We have destroyed before them! They cried out [for help], but gone was the time for escape.

They consider it odd that there should come to them a warner from among themselves, and the faithless say, ‘This is a magician, a mendacious liar.’

‘Has he reduced the gods to one god? This is indeed an odd thing!’

Their elite go about [urging others]: ‘Go and stand by your gods! This is indeed the desirable thing [to do].

We did not hear of this in the latter-day creed. This is nothing but a fabrication.

Has the Reminder been sent down to him out of [all of] us?’ Indeed, they are in doubt concerning My Reminder. Indeed, they have not yet tasted My punishment.

Do they possess the treasuries of the mercy of your Lord, the All-mighty, the All-munificent?

Do they own the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them? [If so,] let them ascend [to the higher spheres] by the means [of ascension].

[They are but] a host routed out there of the factions.

Before them Noah’s people impugned [their apostle] and [so did the people of] ‘Ad, and Pharaoh, the Impaler [of his victims],

and Thamud, and the people of Lot, and the inhabitants of Aykah: those were the factions.

There was not any one but such as impugned the apostles; so My retribution became due [against them].

These [too] do not await but a single Cry, which will not grant [them] any respite.

They say, ‘Our Lord! Hasten on for us our share before the Day of Reckoning.’

Be patient over what they say, and remember Our servant, David, [the man] of strength. Indeed he was a penitent [soul].

We disposed the mountains to glorify [Allah] with him at evening and dawn,

and the birds [as well], mustered [in flocks]; all echoing him [in a chorus].

We consolidated his kingdom and gave him wisdom and conclusive speech.

Has there not come to you the account of the contenders, when they scaled the wall into the sanctuary?

When they entered into the presence of David, he was alarmed by them. They said, ‘Do not be afraid. [We are only] two contenders: one of us has bullied the other. So judge justly between us, and do not exceed [the bounds of justice], and show us the right path.’

‘This brother of mine has ninety-nine ewes, while I have only a single ewe, and [yet] he says, ‘Commit it to my care,’ and he browbeats me in speech.’

He said, ‘He has certainly wronged you by asking your ewe in addition to his own ewes, and indeed many partners bully one another, except such as have faith and do righteous deeds, and few are they.’ Then David knew that We had tested him, whereat he pleaded with his Lord for forgiveness, and fell down in prostration and repented.

So We forgave him that, and indeed he has [a station of] nearness with Us and a good destination.

‘O David! Indeed, We have made you a vicegerent on the earth. So judge between people with justice, and do not follow your desires, or they will lead you astray from the way of Allah. Indeed there is a severe punishment for those who stray from the way of Allah, because of their forgetting the Day of Reckoning.’

We did not create the sky and the earth and whatever is between them in vain. That is a conjecture of the faithless. So woe to the faithless for the Fire!

Shall We treat those who have faith and do righteous deeds like those who cause corruption on the earth? Shall We treat the Godwary like the vicious?

[This is] a blessed Book that We have sent down to you, so that they may contemplate its signs, and that those who possess intellect may take admonition.

And to David We gave Solomon—what an excellent servant he was! Indeed, he was a penitent [soul].

One evening when there were displayed before him prancing steeds,

he said, ‘Indeed I have preferred the love of [worldly] niceties to the remembrance of my Lord until [the sun] disappeared behind the [night’s] veil.’

‘Bring it back for me!’ Then he [and others] began to wipe [their] legs and necks.

Certainly We tried Solomon, and cast a [lifeless] body on his throne. Thereupon he was penitent.

He said, ‘My Lord! Forgive me, and grant me a kingdom that will not befit anyone except me. Indeed You are the All-munificent.’

So We disposed the wind for him, blowing softly wherever he intended by his command,

and every builder and diver from the demons,

and others [too] bound together in chains.

‘This is Our bounty: so withhold or bestow without any reckoning.’

Indeed he has [a station of] nearness with Us and a good destination.

And remember Our servant Job [in the Quran]. When he called out to his Lord, ‘The devil has visited on me hardship and torment,’

[We told him:] ‘Stamp your foot on the ground; this [ensuing spring] will be a cooling bath and drink.’

We gave [back] his family to him along with others like them, as a mercy from Us and an admonition for those who possess intellect.

[We told him:] ‘Take a faggot in your hand and then strike [your wife] with it, but do not break [your] oath.’ Indeed, We found him to be patient. What an excellent servant! Indeed he was a penitent [soul].

And remember Our servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, men of strength and insight.

Indeed We purified them with exclusive remembrance of the abode [of the Hereafter].

Indeed they are surely with Us among the elect of the best.

And remember Ishmael, Elisha and Dhu’l-Kifl—each [of whom was] among the elect.

This is a Reminder, and indeed the Godwary have a good destination:

the Gardens of Eden, whose gates will be flung open for them.

Reclining therein [on couches], they will call for abundant fruits and drinks,

and there will be with them maidens of restrained glances, of a like age.

This is what you are promised on the Day of Reckoning.

This is Our provision, which will never be exhausted.

This [will be for the righteous], and as for the rebellious there will surely be a bad destination:

hell, which they shall enter, an evil resting place.

[They will be told, ‘This is scalding water and pus; let them taste it,

and other kinds [of torments] resembling it.’

[The leaders of the faithless will be told,] ‘This is a group [of your followers] plunging [into hell] along with you.’ [They will repond,] ‘May wretchedness be their lot! For they will enter the Fire.’

They will say, ‘No, may wretchedness be your lot! You prepared this [hell] for us. What an evil abode!’

They will say, ‘Our Lord! Whoever has prepared this for us, double his punishment in the Fire!’

And they will say, ‘Why is it that we do not see [here] men whom we used to count among the bad ones,

ridiculing them, or do [our] eyes miss them [here]?’

That is indeed a true account of the contentions of the inmates of the Fire.

Say, ‘I am just a warner, and there is no god except Allah, the One, the All-paramount,

the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, the All-mighty, the All-forgiver.’

Say, ‘It is a great prophesy,

of which you are disregardful.

I have no knowledge of the Supernal Elite when they contend.

All that is revealed to me is that I am just a manifest warner.’

When your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed I am about to create a human being out of clay.

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 acted arrogantly and he was one of the faithless.

He said, ‘O Iblis! What keeps you from prostrating before that which I have created with My [own] two hands? Are you arrogant, or are you one of the exalted ones?’

‘I am better than him,’ he said. ‘You created me from fire and You created him from clay.’

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

and indeed My curse will be on you till 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, ‘By Your might, I will surely pervert them,

except Your exclusive servants among them.’

Said He, ‘The truth is that—and I speak the truth—

I will surely fill hell with you and all those who follow you.’

Say, ‘I do not ask you any reward for it, and I am no impostor.

It is just a reminder for all the nations,

and you will surely learn its tidings in due time.’

The [gradual] sending down of the Book is from Allah, the All-mighty, the All-wise.

Indeed We have sent down the Book to you with the truth; so worship Allah, putting exclusive faith in Him.

Indeed, only exclusive faith is worthy of Allah, and those who take other as awliya besides Him [claiming,] ‘We only worship them so that they may bring us near to Allah,’ Allah will judge between them concerning that about which they differ. Indeed Allah does not guide someone who is a liar and an ingrate.

Had Allah intended to take a son, He could have chosen from those He has created whatever He wished. Immaculate is He! He is Allah, the One, the All-paramount.

He created the heavens and the earth with consummate wisdom. He winds the night over the day, and winds the day over the night, and He has disposed the sun and the moon, each moving for a specified term. Indeed, He is the All-mighty, the All-forgiver!

He created you from a single soul, then made from it its mate, and He has sent down for you eight mates of the cattle. He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in a threefold darkness. That is Allah, your Lord! To Him belongs all sovereignty. There is no god except Him. Then where are you being led away?

If you are ungrateful, Allah has indeed no need of you, though He does not approve ingratitude for His servants; and if you give thanks, He approves that for you. No bearer shall bear another’s burden; then your return will be to your Lord, whereat He will inform you concerning what you used to do. Indeed, He knows best what is in the breasts.

When distress befalls man, he supplicates his Lord, turning to Him penitently. Then, when He grants him a blessing from Himself, he forgets that for which he had supplicated Him earlier and sets up equals to Allah, that he may lead [people] astray from His way. Say, ‘Revel in your ingratitude for a while. Indeed you are among the inmates of the Fire.’

Is he who supplicates in the watches of the night, prostrating and standing, apprehensive of the Hereafter and expecting the mercy of his Lord...? Say, ‘Are those who know equal to those who do not know?’ Only those who possess intellect take admonition.

Say, ‘[Allah declares:] “O My servants who have faith! Be wary of your Lord. For those who do good in this world there will be a good [reward], and Allah’s earth is vast. Indeed the patient will be paid in full their reward without any reckoning.” ’

Say, ‘I have been commanded to worship Allah with exclusive faith in Him,

and I have been commanded to be the foremost of those who submit [to Him].’

Say, ‘Indeed, should I disobey my Lord, I fear the punishment of a tremendous day.’

Say, ‘I worship [only] Allah, putting my exclusive faith in Him.

You worship whatever you wish besides Him.’ Say, ‘The losers are those who ruin themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection.’ Indeed, that is a manifest loss!

There will be canopies of fire above them, and [similar] canopies beneath them. With that Allah deters His servants. So, My servants, be wary of Me!

As for those who stay clear of the worship of fake deities and turn penitently to Allah, there is good news for them. So give good news to My servants

who listen to the word [of Allah] and follow the best [interpretation] of it. They are the ones whom Allah has guided, and it is they who possess intellect.

Can he against whom the word of punishment has become due…? Can you rescue someone who is in the Fire?

But as for those who are wary of their Lord, for them there will be lofty abodes with [other] lofty abodes built above them, with streams running beneath them—a promise of Allah. Allah does not break His promise.

Have you not seen that Allah sends down water from the sky, then He conducts it through the ground as springs. Then He brings forth with it crops of diverse hues. Then they wither and you see them turn yellow. Then He turns them into chaff. There is indeed a lesson in that for those who possess intellect.

Is someone whose breast Allah has opened to Islam so that he follows a light from His Lord…? So woe to those whose hearts have been hardened to the remembrance of Allah. They are in manifest error.

Allah has sent down the best of discourses, a scripture [composed] of similar motifs, whereat shiver the skins of those who fear their Lord, then their skins and hearts relax at Allah’s remembrance. That is Allah’s guidance, by which He guides whomever He wishes; and whomever Allah leads astray, has no guide.

What! Is someone who fends off with his face the terrible punishment [meted out to him] on the Day of Resurrection…? And the wrongdoers will be told, ‘Taste what you used to earn.’

Those who were before them impugned [the apostles], whereat the punishment overtook them whence they were not aware.

So Allah made them taste disgrace in the life of the world, and the punishment of the Hereafter will surely be greater, if they knew.

We have drawn for mankind in this Quran every [kind of] example, so that they may take admonition:

an Arabic Quran, without any deviousness, so that they may be Godwary.

Allah draws an example: a man jointly owned by several contending masters, and a man belonging entirely to one man: are the two equal in comparison? All praise belongs to Allah! But most of them do not know.

You will die, and they [too] will die.

Then on the Day of Resurrection you will contend before your Lord.