English - Chapter 21 - Al-Anbiya

The Day of Accountability for mankind is getting closer and closer, yet they are heedless and are turning away from the admonition

They listen with ridicule to each fresh warning that comes to them from their Lord and remain engaged in the sports

Their hearts are preoccupied with worldly affairs; these wrongdoers say to each other in private: "Is this man (Muhammad) not a human being like yourselves? Would you follow witchcraft with your eyes open

Tell them: "My Lord has knowledge of every word which is spoken in the heavens and the earth, and He hears all and knows all

Rather, some of them say, "this Qur’an is jumble of dreams!" Others say: "He has made it all up!" And yet others say: "He is a poet!" Let him bring to us a sign as did the former Messengers

The fact, however, is that even though We showed Signs to the prior people, not a single nation before them, which We destroyed, ever believed. Will they believe

The Messengers which We sent before you, O Muhammad, were also human to whom We sent revelation. If you, O objectors, do not know this, then ask the people of the reminder (Jews and Christians)

We did not give them bodies which could survive without food, nor were they immortal

Then We fulfilled Our promise with them: We saved them and those whom We pleased, and destroyed the transgressors

Now, O People, We have sent down to you a Book (The Qur’an) which deals with matters concerning yourselves; why don’t you understand

How many nations We have destroyed because of their iniquities and replaced them by other nations

When they felt that Our punishment was coming, they took to their heels and fled

They were told: "Do not run away. Return to your luxuries of life and to your homes, so that you may be asked questions

They replied: "Woe to us! Indeed we were wrongdoers

They kept on repeating that statement till We mowed them down, leaving no spark of life in them

Our creation of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them is not a game

Had We meant to make it a play ground, We would have done it by Ourself, without giving you discretion to do right and wrong, had We ever done so

Nay! We give falsehood a violent blow with the Truth to knock it out and behold! Falsehood vanishes away. Woe be to you, for all the false gods you have invented

To Him belongs all that exists in the heavens and in the earth; and the angels, who are in His very presence, are not too proud to serve Him, nor do they feel wearied of His service

They glorify Him night and day; and do not pause

Have the earthly deities, that they have taken for worship, the power to raise the dead

If there were other gods in the heavens or in the earth besides Allah, both the heavens and earth would have been in a state of disorder. Glory be to Allah, the Lord of the Throne, absolutely free is He from the falsehood that they attribute to Him

He is accountable to none about what He does, but they are accountable to Him

Even then, have they taken other deities for worship besides Him? Ask them: "Show us your proof: here is this reminder (Al-Qur’an) for the people of my time and it also contains the reminder of those before me." But most of them have no knowledge of Reality, and that is why they have turned away

The fact is that to every Messenger whom We sent before you, We revealed the same Message: "There is no god but Me, so worship Me Alone

In spite of receiving that message, they still say: "The Beneficent (Allah) has offspring!" Glory be to Him! The angels are but His honored servants

They do not precede Him in speaking and they act according to His commandment

He knows what is before them and what is behind them and they do not intercede except for the one whom He approves, and for fear of Him they tremble

If any of them were to say: "I am also a deity besides Him," We would send him to hell, thus shall We reward the wrongdoers

Have not the unbelievers ever considered that the skies and the earth were once one mass, then We split them asunder? And We have created every living thing from water. Will they still not believe

And We have planted mountains on earth lest it should tilt to one side with them (the weight of people) and We left between them open passages so that they may find the right direction

And We have made the sky a safe canopy: yet they are heedless to these signs

He is the One Who has created the night and the day and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) move swiftly in an orbit of their own

O Muhammad, We have not granted immortality to any human before you: so if you are to die, will these unbelievers live forever

Every soul is bound to have the taste of death. We are putting all of you to a test by passing you through bad and good conditions, and finally you shall return to Us

When the unbelievers see you they do not take you but for one to be scoffed at, saying: "Is this the one who talks against your gods?" And they themselves deny the mention of the Compassionate (Allah)

Man is a creature of haste (impatience). Soon I will show you My signs, therefore, you need not be impatient

They ask: "When will this promise be fulfilled if you are telling the truth

They would not have asked this question if only the unbelievers knew the Day when they will be able to protect neither their faces from the fire of hell nor their backs, nor will they be helped

Nay, it will come to them all of a sudden and overpower them so abruptly that they shall neither be able to avert it nor shall they get any respite

As for their scoffing, the Messengers before you were also scoffed at; but their scoffers were hemmed in by the very thing at which they used to scoff

Ask them, "Who is there to protect you by night and by day from the wrath of the Compassionate?" Yet they turn away from the admonition of their Lord

Do they have such gods who can defend them against Us? Their gods can neither help themselves nor can they protect themselves from Us

The fact is that We gave the good things of this life to them and their forefathers until they got used to these things because of their prolonged lives; can they not see how We gradually reduce the land which was in their control and curtail it from all sides? Do they still expect to be victorious against Us

Tell them, "I am warning you on the authority of Revelation," but the deaf choose not to listen the call when they are warned

Yet even if a breath from the Wrath of your Lord was to touch them, they will certainly say, "Woe to us! No doubt we were wrongdoers

On the Day of Judgement We shall set up scales of justice so that no one will be dealt with unjustly in any way; even if someone has an act as small as a grain of a mustard seed, We will bring it to account, and sufficient are We to settle the accounts

Certainly, We granted to Moses and Haroon (Aaron) the Criterion of right and wrong, a light and a reminder for those righteous people

who fear their Lord though they have not seen Him, and dread the Day of Judgment

And now We have revealed this blessed Reminder (The Qur’an). Will you then deny it

Even before that We blessed Abraham with rectitude, for We knew him well

Remember that occasion when Abraham asked his father and his people, "What are these images to which you are so devoted

They replied, "We found our forefathers worshipping them

He said "Then certainly both you and your forefathers have been in manifest error

They asked, "Have you brought us the Truth or are you one of the triflers

He replied, "Nay! Your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. It is He Who has created them; and I am of those who bear witness to this

By Allah! I will certainly plan against your idols when you turn and go away

So he broke them all in pieces, except the biggest of them, so that they might turn to it

(On their return when they saw the plight of their idols), some asked, "Who has done this to our gods? He must surely be a wicked person

Others replied, "We heard a youth, called Abraham, talking about them

They said, "Then bring him here before the eyes of the people, so that they may witness how severely he is punished

When Abraham came, they asked, "O Abraham, are you the one who has done this to our gods

He replied, "Surely someone has done it; the chief of them, that is! Ask them, if they can speak

Thereupon they turned to search their own consciences, and said to themselves, "Surely you yourselves are the wrongdoers

Confounded as they were, lowering their heads they said, "You know fully well that they cannot speak

At this Abraham said, "Do you then worship these deities, instead of Allah, who can neither benefit nor harm you

Shame on you and on those deities you worship besides Allah! Have you no sense at all

They cried, "Burn him alive and avenge your gods, if you want to take any action

When they threw him in the fire, We commanded, "O fire! Be cool and comfortable for Abraham

They sought to harm him, but We made them the big losers

We delivered him and his nephew Lot and directed them to the land which We have blessed for all the people of the world

We gave him a son Isaac and then a grandson Jacob; and We made each of them a righteous man

We made them leaders who guided other people by Our command and We sent them revelations to do good deeds, establish Salah and pay Zakah. To Us Alone did they serve

To Lot We gave wisdom and knowledge, and We delivered him from the town which practiced abominations - surely its inhabitants were very wicked transgressors

and We admitted him to Our mercy: for he was of the righteous people

Before them Noah prayed to Us, We accepted his prayer and delivered him and his family from the great calamity

We helped him against those people who had denied Our revelations; surely they were an evil people, so We drowned them all in the Great Flood

We also bestowed favors upon Davidand Solomon: when the two were judging a case regarding the field into which the sheep of certain people had strayed by night, and We were watching them to arrive at judgment

at that time We gave Solomon insight to arrive at the right decision, although We had given wisdom and knowledge to both of them. We caused the mountains and the birds to celebrate Our praises with David; it was We Who made this happen

We taught him the armor’s craft, so that they might protect you in your wars: yet are you ever grateful

We made the raging winds subservient to Solomon, pursuing its course by his command to the land which We had blessed; and We have knowledge of everything

And We had subjected to him many of the Satans who dived for him into the sea and performed other duties besides this; and We were the One Who had control over them for him

Similarly We blessed Job, when he prayed to his Lord saying, "I am badly afflicted with disease: but of all those who show mercy You are the most Merciful

We accepted his prayer and relieved his affliction, and restored not only his family but also as many more with them as a favor from Us so that it may serve as a reminder to Our worshippers

Likewise, We blessed Isma‘il (Ishmael), Idris and Zul-kifl, for all of them practised patience

We admitted them to Our Mercy, for they were of the righteous people

We blessed Zun-nun (Jonah / Jonah), when he departed in anger, thinking We would not take him to task for this, but later he prayed to Us from the depths of darkness, "There is no god but You, glory be to You! Indeed I was the one who committed wrong

We accepted his prayer and delivered him from distress; thus do We deliver the believers

We also blessed Zakariya, when he prayed to his Lord, "O my Lord! Do not let me remain childless even though You are the best of inheritors

We accepted his prayer and gave him John, curing his wife for him to bear a child. They were ever quick in emulating good deeds and called on Us with hope, fear, and submission

And We blessed the woman (Mary), who guarded her chastity, We breathed into her of Our Spirit and We made her and her son a sign for the whole world

Verily this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood and I am your only Lord, therefore worship Me Alone

But the people have divided their religion into sects between them- to Us they shall all return

Whoever shall do good deeds, provided he is a believer, his endeavor will not be rejected: We are recording it all for him

It is not possible that a nation which We have destroyed may rise again

Until, when Gog and Magog will be let loose and they will swiftly swarm from every height

and the time of fulfillment for the True Promise will draw near, then behold! The eyes of the unbelievers will fixedly stare in horror: "O woe to us! We were indeed heedless of this warning; nay we were wrongdoers

Surely you (O pagans) and your deities that you worship besides Allah shall be the fuel of hell; therein you shall all enter

If those deities would have been true gods, they would not have gotten there; but there they shall abide forever

In there, sobbing will be their lot, and they will not be able to hear anything else

Certainly those for whom the good reward from Us has preceded them will be kept far away from it

They shall not hear even its slightest sound, and they shall dwell forever in the midst of whatever their souls desire

The time of Great Terror (Day of Judgement) will not grieve them, and the angels will receive them with greetings: "This is your Day that you were promised

On that Day We shall roll up the heavens like a scroll of writings; just as We originated the first creation, so shall We produce it again - that is Our promise, and We will fulfill it

We wrote this in The Zaboor (Psalms xxxvii, 29) after the reminder (Torah given to Moses): that as for the land, My righteous servants shall inherit it

Surely in this is great news for those people who worship Us

O Muhammad, We have not sent you but as a blessing for all the worlds

Tell them: "It has been revealed to me that your God is One God - will you then become Muslims

It is He Who knows your spoken words and hidden thoughts

I do not know whether this delay is a trial for you or you are being given respite for an appointed time

Finally the Prophet said: "O Lord! Pass Your Judgment with fairness. And O People! Our Lord is most Compassionate, Whose help we seek against the blasphemies you utter