English - Chapter 21 - Al-Anbiya

Their reckoning draws nigh to men, yet in heedlessness they turn aside

No reminder comes to them from their Lord of late, but they listen while they mock

and their hearts make sport thereof! And those who do wrong discourse secretly (saying), 'Is this man aught but a mortal like yourselves? will ye accede to magic, while ye can see

Say, 'My Lord knows what is said in the heavens and the earth, He hears and knows

Nay!' they say, 'a jumble of dreams; nay! he has forged it; nay! he is a poet; but let him bring us a sign as those of yore were sent

No city before them which we destroyed believed - how will they believe

Nor did we send before them any but men whom we inspired? Ask ye the people of the Scriptures if ye do not know

Nor did we make them bodies not to eat food, nor were they immortal

Yet we made our promise to them good, and we saved them and whom we pleased; but we destroyed those who committed excesses

We have sent down to you a book in which is a reminder for you; have ye then no sense

How many a city which had done wrong have we broken up, and raised up after it another people

And when they perceived our violence they ran away from it

Run not away, but return to what ye delighted in, and to your dwellings! haply ye will be questioned

And that ceased not to be their cry until we made them mown down,- smouldering out

We did not create the heaven and the earth and what is between the two in play

Had we wished to take to a sport, we would have taken to one from before ourselves; had we been bent on doing so

Nay, we hurl the truth against falsehood and it crashes into it, and lo! it vanishes, but woe to you for what ye attribute (to God)

His are whosoever are in the heavens and the earth, and those who are with Him are not too big with pride for His service, nor do they weary

They celebrate His praises by night and day without intermission

Or have they taken gods from the earth who can raise up (the dead)

Were there in both (heaven and earth) gods beside God, both would surely have been corrupted. Celebrated then be the praise of God, the Lord of the throne, above what they ascribe

He shall not be questioned concerning what He does, but they shall be questioned

Have they taken gods beside Him? Say, 'Bring your proofs. This is the reminder of those who are with me, and of those who were before me.' Nay, most of them know not the truth, and they do turn aside

We have not sent any prophet before thee, but we inspired him that, 'There is no god but Me, so serve ye Me

And they say, 'The Merciful has taken a son; celebrated be His praise!' - Nay, honoured servants

they do not speak until He speaks; but at His bidding do they act

He knows what is before them, and what is behind them, and they shall not intercede except for him whom He is pleased with; and they shrink through fear

And whoso of them should say, 'Verily, I am god instead of Him,' such a one we recompense with hell; thus do we recompense the wrongdoers

Do not those who misbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were both solid, and we burst them asunder; and we made from water every living thing - will they then not believe

And we placed on the earth firm mountains lest it should move with them, and He made therein open roads for paths, haply they may be guided

and we made the heaven a guarded roof; yet from our signs they turn aside

He it is who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, each floating in a sky

We never made for any mortal before thee immortality; what, if thou shouldst die, will they live on for aye

Every soul shall taste of death! we will test them with evil and with good, as a trial; and unto us shall they return

And when those who misbelieve see thee, they only take thee for a jest, 'Is this he who mentions your gods?' Yet they at the mention of the Merciful do disbelieve

Man is created out of haste. I will show, you my signs; but do not hurry Me

And they say, 'When will this threat (come to pass), if ye tell the truth

Did those who misbelieve but know when the fire shall not be warded off from their faces nor from their backs, and they shall not be helped

Nay, it shall come on them suddenly, and shall dumbfounder them, and they shall not be able to repel it, nor shall they be respited

Prophets before thee have been mocked at, but that whereat they jested encompassed those who mocked

Say, 'Who shall guard you by night and by day from the Merciful?' Nay, but they from the mention of their Lord do turn aside

Have they gods to defend them against us? These cannot help themselves, nor shall they be abetted against us

Nay, but we have granted enjoyment to these men and to their fathers whilst life was prolonged. Do they not see that we come to the land and shorten its borders? Shall they then prevail

Say, 'I only warn you by inspiration;' but the deaf hear not the call when they are warned

But if a blast of the torment of thy Lord touches them, they will surely say, 'O, woe is us! verily, we were wrong-doers

We will place just balances upon the resurrection day, and no soul shall be wronged at all, even though it be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, we will bring it; for we are good enough at reckoning up

We did give to Moses and Aaron the Discrimination, and a light and a reminder to those who fear

who are afraid of their Lord in secret; and who at the Hour do shrink

This is a blessed reminder which we have sent down, will ye then deny it

And we gave Abraham a right direction before; for about him we knew

When he said to his father and to his people, 'What are these images to which ye pay devotion

Said they, 'We found our fathers serving them

Said he, 'Both you and your fathers have been in obvious error

They said, 'Dost thou come to us with the truth, or art thou but of those who play

He said, 'Nay, but your Lord is Lord of the heavens and the earth, which He originated; and I am of those who testify to this

and, by God! I will plot against your idols after ye have turned and shown me your backs

So he brake them all in pieces, except a large one they had; that haply they might refer it to that

Said they, 'Who has done this with our gods? verily, he is of the wrong-doers

They said, 'We heard a youth mention them who is called Abraham

Said they, 'Then bring him before the eyes of men; haply they will bear witness

Said they, 'Was it thou who did this to our gods, O Abraham

Said he, 'Nay, it was this largest of them; but ask them, if they can speak

Then they came to themselves and said, 'Verily, ye are the wrong-doers

Then they turned upside down again: 'Thou knewest that these cannot speak

Said he, 'Will ye then serve, beside God, what cannot profit you at all, nor harm you

fie upon you, and what ye serve beside God! have ye then no sense

Said they, 'Burn him, and help your gods, if ye are going to do so

We said, 'O fire! be thou cool and a safety for Abraham

They desired to plot against him, but we made them the losers

And we brought him and Lot safely to the land which we have blessed for the world

and we bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob as a fresh gift, and each of them we made righteous persons

and we made them high priests to guide (men) by our bidding, and we inspired them to do good works, and to be steadfast in prayer, and to give alms; and they did serve us

And Lot, to him we gave judgment and knowledge, and we brought him safely out of the city which had done vile acts; verily, they were a people who wrought abominations

And we made him enter into our mercy; verily, he was of the righteous

And Noah, when he cried aforetime, and we answered him and saved him and his people from the mighty trouble

and we helped him against the people who said our signs were lies; verily, they were a bad people, so we drowned them all together

And David and Solomon, when they gave judgment concerning the field, when some people's sheep had strayed therein at night; and we testified to their judgment

and this we gave Solomon to understand. To each of them we gave judgment and knowledge; and to David we subjected the mountains to celebrate our praises, and the birds too,- it was we who did it

And we taught him the art of making coats of mail for you, to shield you from each other's violence; are ye then grateful

And to Solomon (we subjected) the wind blowing stormily, to run on at his bidding to the land which Ave have blessed, - for all things did we know

and some devils to dive for him, and to do other works beside that; and we kept guard over them

And Job, when he cried to his Lord, 'As for me, harm has touched me, but Thou art the most merciful of the merciful ones

And we answered him, and removed from him the distress that was upon him; and we gave his family, and the like of them with them, as a mercy from us, and a remembrance to those who serve us

And Ishmael, and Idris, and Dhu 'l Kifl, all of these were of the patient

and we made them enter into our mercy; verily, they were among the righteous

And Dhu 'nnun, when he went away in wrath and thought that we had no power over him; and he cried out in the darkness, ' There is no god but Thou, celebrated be Thy praise! Verily, I was of the evildoers

And we answered him, and saved him from the trouble. Thus do we save believers

And Zachariah, when he cried unto his Lord, 'O Lord! leave me not alone; for thou art the best of heirs

And we answered him, and bestowed upon him John; and we made his wife right for him; verily, these vied in good works, and called on us with longing and dread, and were humble before us

And she who guarded her private parts, and we breathed into her of our Spirit, and we made her and her son a sign unto the worlds

Verily, this your nation is one nation; and I am your Lord, so serve me

But they cut up their affair amongst themselves; they all shall return to us

and he who acts aright, and he who is a believer, there is no denial of his efforts, for, verily, we will write them down for him

There is a ban upon a city which we have destroyed that they shall not return

until Yagug and Magug are let out, and they from every hummock shall glide forth

And the true promise draws nigh, and lo! they are staring - the eyes of those who misbelieve! O, woe is us! we were heedless of this, nay, we were wrong-doers

Verily, ye, and what ye serve beside God, shall be the pebbles of hell, to it shall ye go down

Had these been God's they would not have gone down thereto: but all shall dwell therein for aye

for them therein is groaning, but they therein shall not be heard

Verily, those for whom the good (reward) from us was fore-ordained, they from it shall be kept far away

they shall not hear the slightest sound thereof, and they in what their souls desire shall dwell for aye

The greatest terror shall not grieve them; and the angels shall meet them, (saying), 'This is your day which ye were promised

The day when we will roll up the heavens as es-Sigill rolls up the books; as we produced it at its first creation will we bring it back again - a promise binding upon us; verily, we are going to do it

And already have we written in the Psalms after the reminder that the earth shall my righteous servants inherit

Verily, in this is preaching for a people who serve me

We have only sent thee as a mercy to the worlds

Say, 'I am only inspired that your God is one God; are ye then resigned

But if they turn their backs say, 'I have proclaimed (war) against all alike, but I know not if what ye are threatened with be near or far

Verily, He knows what is spoken openly, and He knows what ye hide

I know not, haply, it is a trial for you and a provision for a season

Say, 'My Lord! judge thou with truth! and our Lord is the Merciful whom we ask for aid against what they ascribe