English - Chapter 20

Ta Ha

We have not sent down the Koran upon thee for thee to be unprosperous

but only as a reminder to him who tears

a revelation from Him who created the earth and the high heavens

the All-compassionate sat Himself upon the Throne; to Him belongs

all that is in the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and all that is underneath the soil

Be thou loud in thy speech, yet surely He knows the secret and that yet more hidden

God -- there is no god but He. To Him belong the Names Most Beautiful

Hast thou received the story of Moses

When he saw a fire, and said to his family, 'Tarry you here; I observe a fire. Perhaps I shall bring you a brand from it, or I shall find at the fire guidance

When he came to it, a voice cried, 'Moses

I am thy Lord; put off thy shoes; thou art in the holy valley, Towa

I Myself have chosen thee; therefore give thou ear to this revelation

Verily I am God; there is no god but I; therefore serve Me, and perform the prayer of My remembrance

The Hour is coming; I would conceal it that every soul may be recompensed for its labours

Let none bar thee from it, that believes not in it but follows after his own caprice, or thou wilt perish

What is that, Moses, thou hast in thy right hand

Why, it is my staff,' said Moses. 'I lean upon it, and with it I beat down leaves to feed my sheep; other uses also I find in it

Said He, 'Cast it down, Moses

and he cast it down, and behold it was a serpent sliding

Said He, 'Take it, and fear not; We will restore it to its first state

Now clasp thy hand to thy arm-pit; it shall come forth white, without evil. That is a second sign

So We would show thee some of Our greatest signs

Go to Pharaoh; he has waxed insolent

Lord, open my breast,' said Moses

and do Thou ease for me my task

Unloose the knot upon my tongue, t

hat they may understand my words

Appoint for me of my folk a familiar

Aaron, my brother

by him confirm my strength

and associate him with me in my task

So shall we glorify Thee

and remember Thee abundantly

Surely Thou seest into us

Said He, 'Thou art granted, Moses, thy petition

Already another time We favoured thee

when We revealed what was revealed unto thy mother

Cast him into the ark, and cast him into the river, and let the river throw him up on the shore. An enemy of Mine and his shall take him." And I loaded on thee love from Me, and to be formed in My sight

when thy sister went out, saying, "Shall I point you to one to have charge of him?" So We returned thee to thy mother that she might rejoice, and not sorrow. Then thou slewest; a living soul, and We delivered thee out of grief, and We tried thee with many trials. Many years among the people of Midian thou didst sojourn, then camest hither, Moses, according to a decree

I have chosen thee for My service

go therefore, thou and thy brother; with My signs, and neglect not to remember Me

Go to Pharaoh, for he has waxed insolent

yet speak gently to him, that haply he may be mindful, or perchance fear

O our Lord,' said Moses and Aaron, 'truly we fear he may exceed against us, or wax insolent

Fear not,' said He. 'Surely I shall be with you, hearing and seeing

So go you both to Pharaoh, and say, "We are the Messengers of thy Lord, so send forth with us the Children of Israel and chastise them not; we have brought thee a sign from thy Lord; and peace be upon him who follows the guidance

It has been revealed to us that chastisement shall light upon him who cries lies and turns his back

Pharaoh said, 'Who is your Lord, Moses

He said, 'Our Lord is He who gave everything its creation, then guided it

Pharaoh said, 'And what of the former generations

Said Moses, 'The knowledge of them is with my Lord, in a Book; my Lord goes not astray, nor forgets

He who appointed the earth to be a cradle for you, and therein threaded roads for you, and sent down water out of heaven, and therewith We have brought forth divers kinds of plants

Do you eat, and pasture your cattle! Surely in that are signs for men possessing reason

Out of the earth We created you, and We shall restore you into it, and bring you forth from it a second time

So We showed Pharaoh all Our signs, but he cried lies, and refused

Hast thou come, Moses,' he said, 'to expel us out of our land

by thy sorcery? We shall assuredly bring thee sorcery the like of it; therefore appoint a tryst between us and thee, a place mutually agreeable, and we shall not fail it, neither thou

Your tryst shall be upon the Feast Day.' said Moses. 'Let the people be mustered at the high noon

Pharaoh then withdrew, and gathered his guile. Thereafter he came again

and Moses said to them, 'O beware! Forge not a lie against God, lest He destroy you with a chastisement. Whoso forges has ever failed

And they disputed upon their plan between them, and communed secretly

saying, 'These two men are sorcerers and their purpose is to expel you out of your land by their sorcery, and to extirpate your justest way

So gather your guile; then come in battle-line. Whoever today gains the upper hand shall surely prosper

They said, 'Moses, either thou wilt cast, or we shall be the first to cast

No,' said Moses. 'Do you cast!' And lo, it seemed to him, by their sorcery, their ropes and their staffs were sliding

and Moses conceived a fear within him

We said unto him, 'Fear not; surely thou art the uppermost

Cast down what is in thy right hand, and it shall swallow what they have fashioned; for they have fashioned only the guile of a sorcerer, and the sorcerer prospers not; wherever he goes

And the sorcerers cast themselves down prostrating. 'We believe,' they said, 'in the Lord of Aaron and Moses

Pharaoh said, 'Have you believed him before I gave you leave? Why, he is the chief of you, the same that taught you sorcery; I shall assuredly cut off alternately your hands and feet, then I shall crucify you upon the trunks of palm-trees; you shall know of a certainty which of us is more terrible in chastisement, and more abiding

They said, 'We will not prefer thee over the clear signs that have come to us, nor over Him who originated us. Decide then what thou wilt decide; thou canst only decide touching this present life

We believe in our Lord, that He may pardon us our offences, and the sorcery thou hast constrained us to practise; God is better, and more abiding

Whosoever comes unto his Lord a sinner, for him awaits Gehenna wherein he shall neither die nor live

And whoso comes unto Him a believer having done deeds of righteousness, those -- for them await the most sublime degrees

Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever; that is the recompense of the self-purified

Also We revealed unto Moses, 'Go with My servants by night; strike for them a dry path in the sea, fearing not overtaking, neither afraid

Pharaoh followed them with his hosts, but they were overwhelmed by the sea

so Pharaoh had led his people astray, and was no guide to them

Children of Israel, We delivered you from your enemy; and We made covenant with you upon the right side of the Mount, and sent down on you manna and quails

Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you; but exceed not therein, or My anger shall alight on you; and on whomsoever My anger alights, that man is hurled to ruin

Yet I am All-forgiving to him who repents and believes, and does righteousness, and at last is guided

What has sped thee far from thy people, Moses

They are upon my tracks,' Moses said. 'I have hastened, Lord, only that I may please Thee

Said He, 'We have tempted thy people since thou didst leave them. The Samaritan has misled them into error

Then Moses returned very angry and sorrowful to his people, saying, 'My people, did your Lord not promise a fair promise to you? Did the time of the covenant seem so long to you, or did you desire that anger should alight on you from your Lord, so that you failed in your tryst with me

We have not failed in our tryst with thee,' they said, 'of our volition; but we were loaded with fardels, even the ornaments of the people, and we cast them, as the Samaritan also threw them, into the fire

Then he brought out for them a Calf, a mere body that lowed; and they said, 'This is your god, and the god of Moses, whom he has forgotten

What? Did they not see that thing returned no speech unto them, neither had any power to hurt or profit them

Yet Aaron had aforetime said to them, 'My people, you have been tempted by this thing, no more; surety your Lord is the All-merciful; therefore follow me, and obey my commandment

We will not cease,' they said, 'to cleave to it, until Moses returns to us

Moses said, 'What prevented thee, Aaron, when thou sawest them in error

so that thou didst not follow after me? Didst thou then disobey my commandment

Son of my mother,' Aaron said, 'take me not by the beard, or the head! I was fearful that thou wouldst say, "Thou hast divided the Children of Israel, and thou hast not observed my word

Moses said, 'And thou, Samaritan, what was thy business

I beheld what they beheld not,' he said, 'and I seized a handful of dust from the messenger's track, and cast it into the thing. So my soul prompted me

Depart!' said Moses. 'It shall be thine all this life to cry "Untouchable!" And thereafter a tryst awaits thee thou canst not fail to keep Behold thy god, to whom all the day thou wast cleaving! We will surely burn it and scatter its ashes into the sea

Your God is only the One God; there is no god, but He alone who in His knowledge embraces everything

So We relate to thee stories of what has gone before, and We have given thee a remembrance from Us

Whosoever turns away from it, upon the Day of Resurrection He shall bear a fardel

therein abiding forever; how evil upon the Day of Resurrection that burden for them

On the day the Trumpet is blown; and We shall muster the sinners upon that day with eyes staring

whispering one to another, 'You have tarried only ten nights

We know very well what they will say, when the justest of them in the way will say, 'You have tarried only a day

They will question thee concerning the mountains. Say: 'My Lord will scatter them as ashes

then He will leave them a level hollow

wherein thou wilt see no crookedness neither any curving

On that day they will follow the Summoner in whom is no crookedness; voices will be hushed to the All-merciful, so that thou hearest naught but a murmuring

Upon that day the intercession will not profit, save for him to whom the All-merciful gives leave, and whose speech He approves

He knows what is before them and behind them, and they comprehend Him not in knowledge

And faces shall be humbled unto the Living, the Eternal. He will have failed whose burden is of evildoing

but whosoever does deeds of righteousness, being a believer, shall fear neither wrong nor injustice

Even so We have sent it down as an Arabic Koran, and We have turned about in it something of threats, that haply they may be godfearing, or it may arouse in them remembrance

So high exalted be God, the true King! And hasten not with the Koran ere its revelation is accomplished unto thee; and say, 'O my Lord, increase me in knowledge

And We made covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found in him no constancy

And when We said to the angels, 'Bow yourselves to Adam'; so they bowed themselves, save Iblis; he refused

Then We said, 'Adam, surely this is an enemy to thee and thy wife. So let him not expel you both from the Garden, so that thou art unprosperous

It is assuredly given to thee neither to hunger therein, nor to go naked

neither to thirst therein, nor to suffer the sun

Then Satan whispered to him saying, 'Adam, shall I point thee to the Tree of Eternity, and a Kingdom that decays not

So the two of them ate of it, and their shameful parts revealed to them, and they took to stitching upon themselves leaves of the Garden. And Adam disobeyed his Lord, and so he erred

Thereafter his Lord chose him, and turned again unto him, and He guided him

Said He, 'Get you down, both of you together, out of it, each of you an enemy to each; but if there comes to you from Me guidance, then whosoever follows My guidance shall not go astray, neither shall he be unprosperous

but whosoever turns away from My remembrance, his shall be a life of narrowness, and on the Resurrection Day We shall raise him blind

He shall say, 'O my Lord, why hast thou raised me blind, and I was wont to see

God shall say, 'Even so it is. Our signs came unto thee, and thou didst forget them; and so today thou art forgotten

So We recompense him who is prodigal and believes not in the signs of his Lord; and the chastisement of the world to come is more terrible and more enduring

Is it not a guidance to them, how many generations We destroyed before them in whose dwelling-places they walk? Surely in that are signs for men possessing reason

And but for a word that preceded from thy Lord, and a stated term, it had been fastened

So be thou patient under what they say, and proclaim thy Lord's praise before the rising of the sun, and before its setting, and proclaim thy Lord's praise in the watches of the night, and at the ends of the day; haply thou wilt be well-pleasing

Stretch not thine eyes to that We have given pairs of them to enjoy - the flower of the present life, that We may try them therein and thy Lord's provision is better, and more enduring

And bid thy family to pray, and be thou patient in it; We ask of thee no provision, but it is We who provide thee and the issue ultimate is to godfearing

They say, 'Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord?' Has there not come to them the clear sign of what is in the former scrolls

Had We destroyed them with a chastisement aforetime, they would have said, 'Our Lord, why didst Thou not send us a Messenger, so that we might have followed Thy signs before that we were humiliated and degraded

Say: 'Everyone is waiting; so wait, and assuredly you shall know who are the travellers on the even path, and who is guided