Hizb 57

Blessed is He in whose hands is all sovereignty, and He has power over all things.

He, who created death and life that He may test you [to see] which of you is best in conduct. And He is the All-mighty, the All-forgiving.

He created seven heavens in layers. You do not see any discordance in the creation of the All-beneficent. Look again! Do you see any flaw?

Look again, once more. Your look will return to you humbled and weary.

We have certainly adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, and made them [the means of pelting] missiles against the devils, and We have prepared for them a punishment of the Blaze.

For those who defy their Lord is the punishment of hell, and it is an evil destination.

When they are thrown in it, they hear it blaring, as it seethes,

almost exploding with rage. Whenever a group is thrown in it, its keepers will ask them, ‘Did not any warner come to you?’

They will say, ‘Yes, a warner did come to us, but we impugned [him] and said, ‘Allah did not send down anything; you are only in great error.’

And they will say, ‘Had we listened or applied reason, we would not have been among inmates of the Blaze.’

Thus they will admit their sin. So away with the inmates of the Blaze!

Indeed for those who fear their Lord in secret there will be forgiveness and a great reward.

Speak secretly, or do so openly, indeed He knows well what is in the breasts.

Would He who has created not know? And He is the All-attentive, the All-aware.

It is He who made the earth tractable for you; so walk on its flanks and eat of His provision, and towards Him is the resurrection.

Are you secure that He who is in the sky will not make the earth swallow you while it quakes?

Are you secure that He who is in the sky will not unleash upon you a rain of stones? Soon you will know how My warning has been!

Certainly those who were before them had impugned [My apostles]; but then how was My rebuttal!

Have they not regarded the birds above them spreading and closing their wings? No one sustains them except the All-beneficent. Indeed, He watches all things.

Who is it that is your host who may help you, besides the All-beneficent? The faithless only dwell in delusion.

Who is it that may provide for you if He withholds His provision? Indeed, they persist in defiance and aversion.

Is he who walks prone on his face better guided, or he who walks upright on a straight path?

Say, ‘It is He who created you, and made for you hearing, eyesight, and hearts. Little do you thank.’

Say, ‘It is He who created you on the earth, and toward Him you will be mustered.’

They say, ‘When will this promise be fulfilled, if you are truthful?’

Say, ‘Its knowledge is only with Allah; I am only a manifest warner.’

When they see it brought near, the countenances of the faithless will be contorted, and [they will be] told, ‘This is what you were asking for!’

Say, ‘Tell me, whether Allah destroys me and those who are with me, or He has mercy on us, who will shelter the faithless from a painful punishment?’

Say, ‘He is the All-beneficent; we have faith in Him, and in Him do we trust. Soon you will know who is in manifest error.’

Say, ‘Tell me, should your water sink down [into the ground], who will bring you running water?’

Nun. By the Pen and what they write:

by your Lord’s blessing, you are not, crazy,

and yours indeed will be an everlasting reward,

and indeed you possess a great character.

You will see and they will see,

which one of you is crazy.

Indeed your Lord knows best those who stray from His way, and He knows best those who are guided.

So do not obey the deniers,

who are eager that you should be flexible, so that they [too] may be flexible [towards you].

And do not obey any vile swearer,

scandal-monger, talebearer,

hinderer of all good, sinful transgressor,

callous and, on top of that, baseborn

—[who behaves in such a manner only] because he has wealth and children.

When Our signs are recited to him, he says, ‘Myths of the ancients!’

Soon We shall brand him on his snout.

Indeed we have tested them just as We tested the People of the Garden when they vowed they would gather its fruit at dawn,

and they did not make any exception.

Then, a visitation from your Lord visited it while they were asleep.

So, by dawn it was like a harvested field.

At dawn they called out to one another,

‘Get off early to your field if you have to gather [the fruits].’

So off they went, murmuring to one another:

‘Today no needy man shall come to you in it.’

And they set out at early morning, [considering themselves] able to deprive [the poor of its fruit].

But when they saw it, they said, ‘We have indeed lost our way!’

‘No, it is we who have been deprived!’

The most upright among them said, ‘Did I not tell you, ‘‘Why do you not glorify [Allah]?’’ ’

They said, ‘Immaculate is our Lord! We have indeed been wrongdoers!’

Then they turned to one another, blaming each other.

They said, ‘Woe to us! Indeed, we have been rebellious.

Maybe our Lord will give us a better one in its place. Indeed we earnestly beseech our Lord.’

Such was their punishment; and the punishment of the Hereafter is surely greater, had they known.

Indeed for the Godwary there will be gardens of bliss near their Lord.

Shall We treat those who submit [to Us] as [We treat] the guilty?

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

Do you possess a scripture in which you read

that you shall have in it whatever you choose?

Do you have a pledge binding on Us until the Day of Resurrection, that you shall indeed have whatever you decide?

Ask them, which of them will aver [any of] that!

Do they have any ‘partners’ [that they claim for Allah]? Then let them produce their partners, if they are truthful.

The day when the catastrophe occurs and they are summoned to prostrate themselves, they will not be able [to do it].

With a humbled look [in their eyes], they will be overcast by abasement. Certainly, they were summoned to prostrate themselves while they were yet sound.

So leave Me with those who deny this discourse. We will draw them imperceptibly [into ruin], whence they do not know.

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

Do you ask them for a reward, so that they are weighed down with debt?

Do they possess [access to] the Unseen, so that they write it down?

So submit patiently to the judgement of your Lord, and do not be like the Man of the Fish who called out as he choked with grief.

Had it not been for a blessing that came to his rescue from his Lord, he would surely have been cast on the bare shore, being blameworthy.

So his Lord chose him and made him one of the righteous.

Indeed the faithless almost devour you with their eyes when they hear this Reminder, and they say, ‘He is indeed crazy.’

Yet it is just a reminder for all the nations.

The Besieger!

What is the Besieger?!

What will show you what is the Besieger?!

Thamudand ‘Ad denied the Cataclysm.

As for Thamud, they were destroyed by the Cry.

And as for ‘Ad, they were destroyed by a fierce icy gale,

which He clamped on them for seven gruelling nights and eight days, so that you could see the people there lying about prostrate as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees.

So do you see any remaining trace of them?

Then Pharaoh and those who were before him, and the towns that were overturned, brought about iniquity.

They disobeyed the apostle of their Lord, so He seized them with a terrible seizing.

Indeed when the Flood rose high, We carried you in a floating ark,

that We might make it a reminder for you, and that receptive ears might remember it.

When the Trumpet is blown with a single blast

and the earth and the mountains are lifted and levelled with a single levelling,

then, on that day, will the Imminent [Hour] befall

and the sky will be split open—for it will be frail on that day—

with the angels all over it, and the Throne of your Lord will be borne that day by eight [angels].

That day you will be presented [before your Lord]: none of your secrets will remain hidden.

As for him who is given his book in his right hand, he will say, ‘Here, take and read my book!

Indeed I knew that I will encounter my account [of deeds].’

So he will have a pleasant life,

in an elevated garden,

whose clusters [of fruits] will be within easy reach.

[He will be told]: ‘Enjoy your food and drink, for what you had sent in advance in past days [for your future life].’

But as for him who is given his book in his left hand, he will say, ‘I wish I had not been given my book,

nor had I ever known what my account is!

I wish death had been the end of it all!

My wealth did not avail me.

My authority has left me.’

[The angels will be told:] ‘Seize him, and fetter him!

Then put him into hell.

Then bind him in a chain, seventy cubits in length.

Indeed he had no faith in Allah, the All-supreme,

and he did not urge the feeding of the needy,

so he has no friend here today,

nor any food except pus,

which no one shall eat except the iniquitous.’

I swear by what you see

and what you do not see:

it is indeed the speech of a noble apostle

and it is not the speech of a poet. Little is the faith that you have!

Nor is it the speech of a soothsayer. Little is the admonition that you take!

Gradually sent down from the Lord of all the worlds.

Had he faked any sayings in Our name,

We would have surely seized him by the right hand

and then cut off his aorta,

and none of you could have held Us off from him.

Indeed it is a reminder for the Godwary.

Indeed We know that there are some among you who deny [it].

And indeed it will be a [matter of] regret for the faithless.

It is indeed certain truth.

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

An asker asked for a punishment sure to befall

—which none can avert from the faithless —

from Allah, Lord of the lofty stations.

The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose span is fifty thousand years.

So be patient, with a patience that is graceful.

Indeed they see it to be far off,

and We see it to be near.

The day when the sky will be like molten copper,

and the mountains like [tufts of] dyed wool,

and no friend will inquire about [the welfare of his] friend,

[though] they will be placed within each other’s sight. The guilty one will wish he could ransom himself from the punishment of that day at the price of his children,

his spouse and his brother,

his kin, which had sheltered him

and all those who are upon the earth, if that might deliver him.

Never! Indeed, it is a blazing fire,

which strips away the scalp.

It invites him, who has turned back [from the truth] and forsaken [it],

amassing [wealth] and hoarding [it].

Indeed man has been created covetous:

anxious when an ill befalls him

and grudging [charity] when good comes his way

—[all are such] except the prayerful,

those who persevere in their prayers

and there is a known share in whose wealth

for the beggar and the deprived,

and who affirm the Day of Retribution,

and those who are apprehensive of the punishment of their Lord

(there is indeed no security from the punishment of their Lord)

and those who guard their private parts

(apart from their spouses and their slave women, for then they are not blameworthy;

but whoever seeks beyond that—it is they who are the transgressors)

and those who keep their trusts and covenants,

and those who are observant of their testimonies,

and those who are watchful of their prayers.

They will be in gardens, held in honour.

What is the matter with the faithless that they scramble toward you,

from left and right, in groups?

Does each man among them hope to enter the garden of bliss?

Never! Indeed, We created them from what they know.

So I swear by the Lord of the easts and the wests that We are able

to replace them with [others] better than them and We are not to be outmaneuvered.

So leave them to gossip and play till they encounter the day they are promised:

the day when they emerge from graves, hastening, as if racing toward a target,

with a humbled look [in their eyes], overcast by abasement. That is the day they had been promised.

Indeed We sent Noah to his people, [saying,] ‘Warn your people before a painful punishment overtakes them.’

He said, ‘O my people! Indeed, I am a manifest warner to you.

Worship Allah and be wary of Him, and obey me,

that He may forgive you some of your sins and respite you until a specified time. Indeed when Allah’s [appointed] time comes, it cannot be deferred, if you know.’

He said, ‘My Lord! Indeed, I have summoned my people night and day

but my summons only increases their evasion.

Indeed whenever I have summoned them, so that You might forgive them, they would put their fingers into their ears and draw their cloaks over their heads, and they were persistent [in their unfaith], and disdainful in [their] arrogance.

Again I summoned them aloud,

and again appealed to them publicly and confided with them privately,

telling [them]: ‘‘Plead to your Lord for forgiveness. Indeed, He is all-forgiving.

He will send for you abundant rains from the sky,

and aid you with wealth and sons, and provide you with gardens and provide you with streams.

What is the matter with you that you do not look upon Allah with veneration,

though He has created you in [various] stages?

Have you not seen how Allah has created the seven heavens in layers,

and has made therein the moon for a light and the sun for a lamp?

Allah made you grow from the earth, with a [vegetable] growth.

Then He makes you return to it, and He will bring you forth [without fail].

Allah has made the earth a vast expanse for you

so that you may travel over its spacious ways.’’ ’

Noah said, ‘My Lord! They have disobeyed me, following someone whose wealth and children only add to his loss,

and they have devised an outrageous plot.

They say, ‘‘Do not abandon your gods. Do not abandon Wadd, nor Suwa, nor Yaghuth, Ya‘uq and Nasr,’’

and already they have led many astray. Do not increase the wrongdoers in anything but error.’

They were drowned because of their iniquities, then made to enter a Fire, and they did not find any helpers for themselves besides Allah.

And Noah said, ‘My Lord! ‘Do not leave on the earth any inhabitant from among the faithless.

If You leave them, they will lead astray Your servants, and will beget none except vicious ingrates.

My Lord! Forgive me and my parents, and whoever enters my house in faith, and the faithful men and women, and do not increase the wrongdoers in anything but ruin.’