English - Chapter 37 - As-Saffat

By the angels ranged in order for Songs of Praise

And by those who repel demons

And by those who recite the Koran for warning

Truly your God is but one

Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them, and Lord of the East

We have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the stars

They serve also as a guard against every rebellious Satan

That they overhear not what passeth in the assembly on high, for they are darted at from every side

Driven off and consigned to a lasting torment

While, if one steal a word by stealth, a glistening flame pursueth him

Ask the Meccans then, Are they, or the angels whom we have made, the stronger creation? Aye, of coarse clay have we created them

But while thou marvellest they mock

When they are warned, no warning do they take

And when they see a sign, they fall to mocking

And say, "This is no other than clear sorcery

What! when dead, and turned to dust and bones, shall we indeed be raised

Our sires also of olden times

Say, Yes; and ye shall be covered with disgrace

For, one blast only, and lo! they shall gaze around them

And shall say, "Oh! woe to us! this is the day of reckoning

This is the day of decision which ye gainsaid as an untruth

Gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their consorts, and the gods whom they adored

Beside God; and guide them to the road for Hell

Set them forth: they shall be questioned

How now, that ye help not one another

But on this day they shall submit themselves to God

And shall address one another with mutual reproaches

They shall say, "In sooth, ye came to us in well-omened sort

But they will answer, "Nay, it was ye who would not believe

and we had no power whatever over you. Nay, ye were people given to transgress

Just, therefore, is the doom which our Lord hath passed upon us. We shall surely taste it

We made you err, for we had erred ourselves

Partners therefore shall they be in punishment on that day

Truly, thus will we deal with the wicked

Because when it was said to them, There is no God but God, they swelled with pride

And said, "Shall we then abandon our gods for a crazed poet

Nay, he cometh with truth and confirmeth the Sent Ones of old

Ye shall surely taste the painful punishment

And ye shall not be rewarded but as ye have wrought

Save the sincere servants of God

A stated banquet shall they have

Of fruits; and honoured shall they be

In the gardens of delight

Upon couches face to face

A cup shall be borne round among them from a fountain

Limpid, delicious to those who drink

It shall not oppress the sense, nor shall they therewith be drunken

And with them are the large-eyed ones with modest refraining glances

fair like the sheltered egg

And they shall address one another with mutual questions

Saith one of them, "I truly had a bosom friend

Who said, 'Art thou of those who credit it

What! when we shall have died, and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be judged

He shall say to those around him, "Will ye look

And he shall look and see him in the midst of Hell

And he shall say to him, "By God, thou hadst almost caused me to perish

And, but for the favour of my Lord, I had surely been of those who have been brought with thee into torment

But do we not die," say the blessed

Any other than our first death? and have we escaped the torment

This truly is the great felicity

For the like of this should the travailers travail

Is this the better repast or the tree Ez-zakkoum

Verily, we have made it for a subject of discord to the wicked

It is a tree which cometh up from the bottom of hell

Its fruits is as it were the heads of Satans

And, lo! the damned shall surely eat of it and fill their bellies with it

Then shall they have, thereon, a mixture of boiling water

Then shall they return to hell

They found their fathers erring

And they hastened on in their footsteps

Also before them the greater number of the ancients had erred

Though we had sent warners among them

But see what was the end of these warned ones

Except of God's true servants

Noah called on us of old, and right prompt were we to hear him

And we saved him and his family out of the great distress

And we made his offspring the survivors

And we left for him with posterity

Peace be on Noah throughout the worlds

Thus do we reward the well-doers

For he was one of our believing servants

And the rest we drowned

And truly, of his faith was Abraham

When he brought to his Lord a perfect heart

When he said to his father and to his people, "What is this ye worship

Prefer ye with falsehood gods to God

And what deem ye of the Lord of the worlds

So gazing he gazed towards the stars

And said, "In sooth I am ill

And they turned their back on him and departed

He went aside to their gods and said, "Do ye not eat

He broke out upon them, with the right hand striking

When his tribesmen came back to him with hasty steps

He said, "Worship ye what ye carve

When God hath created you, and that ye make

They said, "Build up a pyre for him and cast him into the glowing flame

Fain would they plot against him, but we brought them low

And he said, "Verily, I repair to my Lord who will guide me

O Lord give me a son, of the righteous

We announced to him a youth of meekness

And when he became a full-grown youth, His father said to him, "My son, I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee; therefore, consider what thou seest right." He said, "My father, do what thou art bidden; of the patient, if God please, shalt thou find me

And when they had surrendered them to the will of God, he laid him down upon his forehead

We cried unto him, "O Abraham

Now hast thou satisfied the vision." See how we recompense the righteous

This was indeed a decisive test

And we ransomed his son with a costly victim

And we left this for him among posterity

PEACE BE ON ABRAHAM

Thus do we reward the well-doers

For he was of our believing servants

And we announced Isaac to him - a righteous Prophet

And on him and on Isaac we bestowed our blessing. And among their offspring were well-doers, and others, to their own hurt undoubted sinners

And of old, to Moses and to Aaron shewed we favours

And both of them, and their people, we rescued from the great distress

And we succoured them, and they became the conquerors

And we gave them (Moses and Aaron) each the lucid book

And we guided them each into the right way

And we left this for each among posterity

PEACE BE ON MOSES AND AARON

Thus do we reward the well-doers

For they were two of our believing servants

And Elias truly was of our Sent Ones

When he said to his people, "Fear ye not God

Invoke ye Baal and forsake ye the most skilful Creator

God is your Lord, and the Lord of your sires of old

But they treated him as a liar, and shall therefore be consigned to punishment

Except God's faithful servants

And we left this for him among posterity

PEACE BE ON ELIASIN

Thus do we reward the well-doers

For he was one of our believing servants

And Lot truly was of our Sent Ones

When we rescued him and all his family

Save an aged woman among those who tarried

Afterward we destroyed the others

And ye indeed pass by their ruined dwellings at morn

And night: will ye not then reflect

Jonas, too, was one of the Apostles

When he fled unto the laden ship

And lots were cast, and he was doomed

And the fish swallowed him, for he was blameworthy

But had he not been of those who praise Us

In its belly had he surely remained, till the day of resurrection

And we cast him on the bare shore - and he was sick

And we caused a gourd-plant to grow up over him

And we sent him to a hundred thousand persons, or even more

And because they believed, we continued their enjoyments for a season

Inquire then of the Meccans whether thy Lord hath daughters, and they, sons

Have we created the angels females? and did they witness it

Is it not a falsehood of their own devising, when they say

God hath begotten"? They are indeed liars

Would he have preferred daughters to sons

What reason have ye for thus judging

Will ye not then receive this warning

Have ye a clear proof for them

Produce your Book if ye speak truth

And they make him to be of kin with the Djinn: but the Djinn have long known that these idolaters shall be brought up before God

Far be the glory of God from what they impute to him

His faithful servants do not thus

Moreover, ye and what ye worship

Shall not stir up any against God

Save him who shall burn in Hell

And verily each one of us hath his appointed place

And we range ourselves in order

And we celebrate His praises

And if those infidels say

Had we a revelation transmitted to us from those of old

We had surely been God's faithful servants

Yet they believe not the Koran. But they shall know its truth at last

Our word came of old to our servants the apostles

That they should surely be the succoured

And that our armies should procure the victory for them

Turn aside therefore from them for a time

And behold them, for they too shall in the end behold their doom

Would they then hasten our vengeance

But when it shall come down into their courts, an evil morning shall it be to those who have had their warning

Turn aside from them therefore for a time

And behold; for they too shall in the end behold their doom

Far be the glory of thy Lord, the Lord of all greatness, from what they impute to him

And peace be on his Apostles

And praise be to God the Lord of the worlds