English - Chapter 21 - Al-Anbiya

Near to mankind has drawn their reckoning, and they, in (a state of) heedlessness, are veering away

In no way does any Remembrance from their Lord come up to them a recent discourse (i.e., recently revealed) except that they listen to it (while) they are playing

Diverted (are) their hearts. The ones who do injustice confer in secret among themselves, "Is this nothing except a mortal like yourselves? Will you then take to sorcery while you are beholding?" (i.e., with your eyes wide open)

He has said, "My Lord knows what is said (Literally: the saying) in the heaven and the earth, and He is The Ever - Hearing, The Ever - Knowing

No indeed, " they said, "Jumbled dreams! No indeed, he has fabricated it; no indeed, he is a poet! Then let him come up to us with a sign, as the earliest ones were sent (as Messengers)

In no way did any town that We caused to perish believe before them. Would they then believe

And in no way did We send before you except men to whom We revealed (the Message). So ask (This is addressed to the disbelievers) the Population of the Remembrance, in case you do not know

And in no way did We make them (corporeal) forms that would not eat food, and in no way were they eternally (abiding)

Thereafter We sincerely (made good Our) promise to them; so We delivered them and whomever We decided (to deliver) and We caused the extravagant (ones) to perish

Indeed We have already sent down to you a Book wherein is your Remembrance; will you (This is addressed to the disbelievers) then not consider

And how many a town that was unjust We have shattered, and We brought into being after it another people

Then, when they perceived Our violence, only then did they (run) scampering out of it

Do not scamper out and return to whatever luxury you were given to live in and to your dwellings, that you would be questioned

They said, "O woe to us! Surely we have been unjust

So that their (unjust) plea did not cease until We made them a harvest mown down

And in no way did We create the heaven and the earth and whatever is between them as playing

If We had taken to Us a diversion, We would indeed have taken it to Us from very close to Us, in case We are performing (that)

No indeed, We hurl the Truth against the untruth; so (Truth) smashes it; then, only then does (untruth) expire. And woe to you for whatever you describe

And to Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and the earth; and whoever are in His Providence do not wax too proud to do Him worship, nor do they (grow) weary. (Or: nor do they regret)

They extol (Him) by night and by daytime (and) they do not flag

Or even have they taken to themselves gods from the earth who make (the dead) rise up again

If there were in both of them (i.e., the heaven and the earth) gods expcept Allah, indeed they would (both) suffer corruption. All Extolment be to Allah, The Lord of the Throne, above whatever they describe

Or even have they taken to themselves gods apart from Him? Say, "Offer your proof! This is the Remembrance of whomever are with me, and the Remembrance of whomever were before me." No indeed, most of them do not know the Truth, so they are veering away

And in no way did We send (any) Messenger even before you except that We revealed to him, (saying), "There is no god except I; so worship Me

And they have said, "The All-Merciful has taken to Him a child." All Extolment be to Him. No indeed, they (i.e., the messengers) are honored bondmen

They do not outstrip Him in speech, and they do according to His Command

He knows whatever is before them (Literally: between their hands) and whatsoever is behind them, and they do not intercede except for them with whom He is divinely satisfied, and they feel timorous in apprehension of Him

And whoever of them should say, "Surely I am a god apart from Him, " then that one We recompense with Hell; thus We recompense the unjust

And have not the ones who disbelieved seen that the heavens and the earth were an integrated (mass), then We unseamed them, and of water We have made every living thing? Would they then not believe

And We have made in the earth anchorages (i.e., the mountains) so that it should not reel with them, and We made therein ravines (Or; passageways) as ways, that possibly they would be guided

And We have made the heaven as a roof well-preserved, and (yet still) from its signs they are veering away

And He (is) The One Who created the night and the daytime, and the sun and the moon, each swimming in an orbit

And in no way did We make eternity to (Or: for) any mortal even before you. So, in case you die, are they then the eternal ones

Every self will be tasting of death. And We try you with evil and charity (or: good) for a temptation, and to Us you will be returned

And when the ones who have disbelieved see you, decidedly they take you only for mockery, (saying), "Is this the one who makes mention of (i.e., mentions (their uselessness) your gods?" And they are they who in the Remembrance of The All-Merciful are the ones (who) are disbelievers

Man was created of haste. Soon I will show you My signs, so do not ask Me to hasten

And they say, "When will this promise (come to pass), in case you are sincere

If the ones who have disbelieved knew while (Or: the time when) they will not restrain the Fire from their faces nor from their backs, nor will they be vindicated

No indeed, it will come up to them suddenly; then it will dumbfound them, so they shall not be able to turn it back, and they will not be respited

And Messengers even before you were indeed already mocked at, then whatever (the disbelievers) mocked at redounded upon the ones (i.e., the disbelievers) who scoffed at them. (The Messengers)

Say, "Who will take good care of you by night and in the daytime from The All-Merciful?" No indeed, (but) from the Remembrance of their Lord they are veering away

Or even have they gods that will prevent (their punishment), apart from Us? They are not able to vindicate themselves, nor will they be kept company by Us

No indeed, (but) We gave these and their fathers enjoyment (of days), until age grew long for them. Do they then not see that We come up to the earth, diminishing it in its extremes? Or are they then the overcomers

Say, "Surely I am only warning you by the Revelation." And (yet) they that are deaf do not hear the call (even) when they are warned

And indeed in case a gust of your Lord's torment touched them, indeed they would definitely say, "O, woe to us! Surely we were an unjust (people)

And We will lay down the equitable scales for the Day of the Resurrection, so that not one self will be done an injustice in anything, and even in case it be the weight of one grain of mustard-seed, We will come up with it. And Sufficient are We for reckoners

And indeed We already brought Musa and Harun (Moses and Aaron, respectively) the Furqan (The all-distinctive Criterion) and an Illumination and a Remembrance for the pious

The ones who are apprehensive of their Lord in the Unseen, and they are timorous (because of) the Hour

And this is a blessed Remembrance that We have sent down. So are you (now) denying it

And indeed We already brought Ibrahim (Abrahem) earlier his right-mindedness and We were Knowledgeable of him

As he said to his father and his people, "What are these statues to which you are consecrating (yourselves)

They said, "We found our fathers worshiping them

He said, "Indeed you were already, you and your fathers, in evident error

They said, "Have you come to us with the Truth, or are you of the ones that play

He said, "No indeed, (but) your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth Who originated them, (2) and I am of the ones who testify to this

And by Allah, indeed I will definitely plot against your idols after you have withdrawn, turning away

So he made them into scraps, except a great one they had, that possibly they would return to it

They said, "Who has perfomed this with our gods? Surely he is indeed of the unjust

They said, "We heard a young man making mention of them; he is called Ibrahim." (Abraham)

They said, "Then come up with him (i.e., bring him) before the eyes of the multitude, that possibly they would testify

They said, "Is it you who performed this with our gods, O Ibrahim

He said, "No indeed, it was this great one of them that performed it; so, ask them in case they (can) pronounce (a word)

So they returned one to another (Literally: returned to themselves) (and) then said, "Surely you yourselves are the unjust

Thereafter they were made to relapse (Literally: they were turned upon their heads) (into idolatry), (saying), "Indeed you already know that these (can) in no way pronounce (a word)

He said, "Do you then worship, apart from Allah, that which does not profit you anything nor harms you

Fie upon you and upon whatever you worship apart from Allah! Do you then not consider

They said, "Burn him away and vindicate your gods, in case you are performing that

We said, "O fire, be coolness and peace upon Ibrahim

And they would (devise) a plot against him; yet We made them the greatest losers

And We safely delivered him and Lut (Lot) to the land We have blessed for the worlds

And We bestowed upon him Ibrahim and Yacuq?b, (Isaac and Jacob) (additional) gift (to him), and each (one) of them We made righteous

And We made them Imams (i.e., leaders) guiding by Our Command, and We revealed to them the performance of charitable deeds, and keeping up the prayer, and the bringing of the Zakat; (i.e., payment of poor-dues) and they were worshipers of Us (alone)

And Lut, (Lot) to him We brought judgment and knowledge, and We safely delivered him from the town that had been doing wicked deeds. Surely they were a woeful people, (and) immoral

And We caused him to enter into Our mercy; surely he (was) of the righteous

And Nuh, (Noah) as he called out (to Us) earlier, so We responded to him; then We safely delivered him and his family from the tremendous agony

And We vindicated him against the people who cried lies to Our signs; surely they were woeful people, so We drowned them all together

And Dawud (David) and Sulayman (Solomon) as they gave judgment concerning the tillage, as the sheep of the people roamed therein, and We were witnesses to their judgment

So We made Sulayman to understand it, and to each We brought judgment and knowledge. And with Dawu?d We subjected the mountains to extol, and the birds; and We were Performers

And We taught him the working out of clothing (i.e., coat of mail) for you to fortify you against your violence; then are you thankful

And to Sulayman (Solomon) (We subjected) the wind, tempestuous, to run at his command to the land that We had blessed; and We were Knowledgeable of everything

And of the Ash-Shayatin (The ever-vicious ones, i.e., the devils) (some) dived for him, and did lesser deeds (Or: other than that) than that; and We were their Preservers

And Ayyub, (Job) as he called out to his Lord, (saying), "Adversity has touched me, and You are The Most Merciful of the merciful

Then We responded to him; so We lifted off the adversity that was upon him, and We brought him his family and the like of them with them, a mercy from Our Providence and a Reminding to the worshipers

And Ismail (Ishmael) and Idris and Thulkifl, each was of the patient

And We caused them to enter into Our mercy; surely they are of the righteous

And Thun-Nun, (Jonah) as he went away angered. So he surmised that We should never have mastery over him. Then he called out in the darkness (Literally: darkenesses) (saying), "There is no god except You. All Extolment be to You! Surely, I have been of the unjust

So We responded to him and safely delivered him from suffering; and thus do We deliver the believers

As Zakariyya, (Zechariah) as he called out to his Lord, "Lord! Leave me not out single, (i.e., without offspring) and You are The Most Charitable of inheritors

So We responded to him and bestowed on him Yahya, (John) and We set his (Zechariah's) spouse righteous for him; surely they used to vie swiftly (with one another) in charitable deeds and to invoke Us, being desirous of (reward) and in awe; and they were submissive to Us

And she who attended to her private parts, (i.e., Safeguarded her chastity) so We breathed into her of Our Spirit and made her and her son a sign to the worlds

Surely this nation of yours is one nation, and I am your Lord, so worship Me

And they differed about their Command (i.e., broken themselves into sects) among themselves; all are returning to Us

So whoever does deeds of righteousness, and he is a believer, then there will be no disavowal of his endeavor; and surely We write it down for him

And it is prohibited for any town We have caused to perish that they will not return. (Literally: that they do not return to this world)

Till, when Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) are opened up, and they press down from every slope, (i.e., broken themselves into sects)

And the True Promise has drawn near; so, only then, do the beholdings of the ones who disbelieved (keep) glazing (i.e., eyesights) over. "O woe to us! We were already in (a state of) heedlessness of this; no indeed, we were unjust

Surely you and whatever you worshiped apart from Allah are gravel for Hell; you will herd (yourselves) down to it

If these had been gods, in no way would they have herded themselves down to it; and all of them are therein eternally (abiding)

Therein there will be groaning for them, and therein they will not hear (anything)

Surely the ones to whom the fairest reward has gone before from Us, those will be kept far from it

They will not hear its perceptible (hissing) sound, and they are eternally (abiding) in whatever their selves craved for. (Literally: lusted for)

The greatest alarm will not grieve them, and the Angels will receive them: "This is your Day that you were promised

The Day when We will fold the heaven as the Recorder's folding of the Books. As We began the first creation, We will bring it back again -a promise (binding) on Us. Surely We have been Performers

And indeed We have already written in the Scripture, (The Zabur = the Psalms) even after the Remembrance, (that) "My righteous bondmen will inherit the earth

Surely in this is indeed a proclamation to a worshiping people

And in no way have We sent you except as a mercy to the worlds

Say, "Surely what is revealed to me is only that your God is (only) one God; so will you then be Muslims?" (i.e., those who surrender (to Allah)

So if they turn away, then say, "I have notified you (all) equally, and decidedly I do not realize whether what you are promised is near or far

Surely He knows what is spoken aloud, (literally: loud saying) and He knows what you keep back

And decidedly I do not realize (that) perhaps it would be a temptation for you, and an enjoyment for a while." (i.e., your disbelief)

He said, "Lord! Judge with the truth! And our Lord is The All-Merciful; His help is to be sought against whatever you describe