Hizb 54

The All-beneficent

has taught the Quran.

He created man,

[and] taught him articulate speech.

The sun and the moon are [disposed] calculatedly,

and the herb and the tree prostrate [to Allah].

He raised the heaven high and set up the balance,

declaring, ‘Do not infringe the balance!

Maintain the weights with justice, and do not shorten the balance!’

And the earth—He laid it out for mankind.

In it are fruits and date-palms with sheaths,

grain with husk, and fragrant herbs.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

He created man out of dry clay, like the potter’s,

and created the jinn out of a flame of a fire.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Lord of the two easts, and Lord of the two wests!

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

He merged the two seas, meeting each other.

There is a barrier between them, which they do not overstep.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

From them emerge the pearl and the coral.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

His are the sailing ships on the sea [appearing] like landmarks.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Everyone on it is ephemeral,

yet lasting is the majestic and munificent Face of your Lord.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Everyone in the heavens and the earth asks Him. Every day He is engaged in some work.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Soon We shall make Ourselves unoccupied for you, O you notable two!

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

O company of jinn and humans! If you can pass through the confines of the heavens and the earth, then do pass through. But you will not pass through except by an authority [from Allah].

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

There will be unleashed upon you a flash of fire and a smoke; then you will not be able to help one another.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

When the sky is split open, and turns crimson like tanned leather.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

On that day neither humans will be questioned about their sins nor jinn.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

The guilty will be recognized by their mark; so they will be seized by their forelocks and feet.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

‘This is the hell which the guilty would deny!’

They shall circuit between it and boiling hot water.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

For him who stands in awe of his Lord will be two gardens.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Both abounding in branches.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

In both of them will be two flowing springs.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

In both of them will be two kinds of every fruit.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

[They will be] reclining on beds lined with green silk. And the fruit of the two gardens will be near at hand.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

In them are maidens of restrained glances, whom no human has touched before, nor jinn.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

As though they were rubies and corals.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Is the requital of goodness anything but goodness?

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Beside these two, there will be two [other] gardens.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Dark green.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

In both of them will be two gushing springs.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

In both of them will be fruits, date-palms and pomegranates.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

In them are maidens good and lovely.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Houris secluded in pavilions.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Whom no human has touched before, nor jinn.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Reclining on green cushions and lovely carpets.

So which of your Lord’s bounties will you both deny?

Blessed is the Name of your Lord, the Majestic and the Munificent!

When the Imminent [Hour] befalls

—there is no denying that it will befall—

[it will be] lowering and exalting.

When the earth is shaken violently,

and the mountains are shattered into bits

and become scattered dust,

you will be three groups:

The People of the Right Hand—and what are the People of the Right Hand?!

And the People of the Left Hand—and what are the People of the Left Hand?!

And the Foremost Ones are the foremost ones:

they are the ones brought near [to Allah],

[who will reside] in the gardens of bliss.

A multitude from the former [generations]

and a few from the latter ones.

On brocaded couches

reclining on them, face to face.

They will be waited upon by immortal youths,

with goblets and ewers and a cup of a clear wine,

which causes them neither headache nor stupefaction,

and such fruits as they prefer

and such flesh of fowls as they desire,

and big-eyed houris

like guarded pearls,

a reward for what they used to do.

They will not hear therein any vain talk or sinful speech,

but only the watchword, ‘Peace!’ ‘Peace!’

And the People of the Right Hand—what are the People of the Right Hand?!

Amid thornless lote trees

and clustered spathes

and extended shade,

and ever-flowing water

and abundant fruits,

neither inaccessible, nor forbidden,

and noble spouses.

We have created them with a special creation,

and made them virgins,

loving, of a like age,

for the People of the Right Hand.

A multitude from the former [generations]

and a multitude from the latter [ones].

And the People of the Left Hand—what are the People of the Left Hand?!

Amid infernal miasma and boiling water

and the shadow of a dense black smoke,

neither cool nor beneficial.

Indeed they had been affluent before this,

and they used to persist in the great sin.

And they used to say, ‘What! When we are dead and become dust and bones, shall we be resurrected?!

And our forefathers too?!’

Say, ‘Indeed the former and latter generations

will all be gathered for the tryst of a known day.

Then indeed, you, astray deniers,

will surely eat from the Zaqqum tree

and stuff your bellies with it,

and drink boiling water on top of it,

drinking like thirsty camels.’

Such will be the hospitality they receive on the Day of Retribution.

We created you. Then why do you not acknowledge it?

Have you considered the sperm that you emit?

Is it you who create it, or are We the creator?

We have ordained death among you, and We are not to be outmaneuvered

from replacing you with your likes and recreating you in [a realm] you do not know.

Certainly you have known the first genesis, then why do you not take admonition?

Have you considered what you sow?

Is it you who make it grow, or are We the grower?

If We wish, We turn it into chaff, whereat you are left stunned [saying to yourselves,]

‘Indeed we have suffered loss!

No, we are deprived!’

Have you considered the water that you drink?

Is it you who bring it down from the rain cloud, or is it We who bring [it] down?

If We wish We can make it bitter. Then why do you not give thanks?

Have you considered the fire that you kindle?

Was it you who caused its tree to grow, or were We the grower?

It was We who made it a reminder and a boon for the desert-dwellers.

So celebrate the Name of your Lord, the All-supreme.

I swear by the places where the stars set!

And indeed it is a great oath, should you know.

This is indeed a noble Quran,

in a guarded Book

—no one touches it except the pure ones—

sent down gradually from the Lord of all the worlds.

What! Do you take lightly this discourse?

And make your denial of it your vocation?

So when it reaches the throat [of the dying person],

and at that moment you are looking on [at his bedside]

—and We are nearer to him than you are, though you do not perceive—

then why do you not restore it, if you are not subject

[to Divine dispensation], if you are truthful?

Then, if he be of those brought near,

then ease, abundance, and a garden of bliss.

And if he be of the People of the Right Hand,

then [he will be told,] ‘Peace be on you, from the People of the Right Hand!’

But if he be of the impugners, the astray ones,

then a treat of boiling water

and entry into hell.

Indeed this is certain truth.

So celebrate the Name of your Lord, the All-supreme!

Whatever there is in the heavens and [whatever there is on] the earth glorifies Allah and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise.

To Him belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth: He gives life and brings death, and He has power over all things.

He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He has knowledge of all things.

It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days; then settled on the Throne. He knows whatever enters the earth and whatever emerges from it and whatever descends from the sky and whatever ascends to it, and He is with you wherever you may be, and Allah watches what you do.

To Him belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and to Allah all matters are returned.

He makes the night pass into the day and makes the day pass into the night, and He knows best what is in the breasts.

Have faith in Allah and His Apostle, and spend out of that of which He has made you heirs. There is a great reward for those of you who have faith and spend [in Allah’s way].

Why should you not have faith in Allah when the Apostle invites you to have faith in your Lord, and He has certainly made a covenant with you, if you are [genuinely] faithful?

It is He who sends down manifest signs to His servant that He may bring you out of darkness into light, and indeed Allah is most kind and merciful to you.

Why should you not spend in the way of Allah, when to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth? Those of you who spent [their means] and fought before the victory are not equal [to others]. They are greater in rank than those who have spent and fought afterwards. Yet Allah has promised the best reward to each and Allah is well aware of what you do.

Who is it that will lend Allah a good loan, that He may multiply it for him and [that] there may be a noble reward for him?

The day you will see the faithful, men and women, with their light moving swiftly in front of them and on their right, [and they are greeted with the words:] ‘There is good news for you today! Gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever]. That is the great success.’

The day the hypocrites, men and women, will say to the faithful, ‘Please wait, that we may glean something from your light!’ They will be told: ‘Go back and grope for light!’ Then there will be set up between them a wall with a gate, with mercy within and punishment without.

They will call out to them, ‘Did we not use to be with you?’ They will say, ‘Yes! But you cast yourselves into perdition. You awaited and were skeptical, and [false] hopes deceived you until the edict of Allah came, and the Deceiver deceived you concerning Allah.

So today no ransom shall be taken from you or the faithless. The Fire will be your abode: it is your [ultimate] refuge and an evil destination.’

Is it not time yet for those who have faith that their hearts should be humbled for Allah’s remembrance and toward the truth which has come down [to them], and to be not like those who were given the Book before? Time took its toll on them and so their hearts were hardened, and many of them are transgressors.

Know that Allah revives the earth after its death. We have certainly made the signs clear for you, so that you may exercise your reason.

Indeed the charitable men and women and those who lend Allah a good loan—it shall be multiplied for them, and there will be a noble reward for them.

Those who have faith in Allah and His apostles—it is they who are the truthful and witnesses with their Lord; they shall have their reward and their light. But as for those who are faithless and deny Our signs, they shall be the inmates of hell.

Know that the life of this world is mere diversion and play, glamour and mutual vainglory among you and rivalry for wealth and children—like rain, whose growth impresses the farmer. Then it withers and you see it turn yellow, then it becomes chaff. Whereas in the Hereafter there is forgiveness from Allah and His approval and a severe punishment. The life of this world is nothing but the wares of delusion.

Take the lead towards forgiveness from your Lord and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who have faith in Allah and His apostles. That is Allah’s grace, which He grants to whomever He wishes, and Allah is dispenser of a great grace.

No affliction visits the land or yourselves but it is in a Book before We bring it about—that is indeed easy for Allah—

so that you may not grieve for what escapes you, nor boast for what comes your way, and Allah does not like any swaggering braggart.

Such as are [themselves] stingy and bid [other] people to be stingy. And whoever refuses to comply [should know that] indeed Allah is the All-sufficient, the All-laudable.

Certainly We sent Our apostles with manifest proofs, and We sent down with them the Book and the Balance, so that mankind may maintain justice; and We sent down iron, in which there is great might and uses for mankind, and so that Allah may know those who help Him and His apostles [with faith] in the Unseen. Indeed Allah is all-strong, all-mighty.

Certainly We sent Noah and Abraham and We ordained among their descendants prophethood and the Book. Some of them are [rightly] guided, and many of them are transgressors.

Then We followed them up with Our apostles and We followed [them] with Jesus son of Mary, and We gave him the Evangel, and We put kindness and mercy into the hearts of those who followed him. But as for monasticism, they innovated it—We had not prescribed it for them—only seeking Allah’s pleasure. Yet they did not observe it with due observance. So We gave to the faithful among them their [due] reward, but many of them are transgressors.

O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah and have faith in His Apostle. He will grant you a double share of His mercy and a light to walk by, and He will forgive you, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful;

so that the People of the Book may know that they do not control Allah grace in any wise and that in Allah’s hand is all grace, which He grants to whomever He wishes and Allah is dispenser of a mighty grace.