AND HE it is who has given freedom of movement to the two great bodies of water * the one sweet and thirst-allaying, and the other salty and bitter - and yet has wrought between them a barrier and a forbidding ban.*
[Easy is it for Him to create likeness and variety:]* thus, the two great bodies of water [on earth] are not alike* the one sweet, thirst-allaying, pleasant to drink, and the other salty and bitter: and yet, from either of them do you eat fresh meat, and [from either] you take gems which you may wear; and on either thou canst see ships ploughing through the waves, so that you might [be able to] go forth in quest of some of His bounty, and thus have cause to be grateful.
and we are not going to be chastised [for adhering to it]!"
Hence, [O man,] do not invoke any other deity side by side with God, lest thou find thyself among those who are made to suffer [on Judgment Day].*
and they would add, Richer [than you] are we in wealth and in children, and [so] we are not going to be made to suffer!"*
[again,] beyond our previous death, and that we shall never [again] be made to suffer?
And whenever some people* among them asked [those who tried to restrain the Sabbath-breakers], "Why do you preach to people whom God is about to destroy or [at least] to chastise with suffering severe?" -the pious ones* would answer, "In order to be free from blame before your Sustainer, and that these [transgressors, too,] might become conscious of Him."
But God did not choose thus to chastise them whip thou [O Prophet] wert still among them,* nor would God chastise them when they [might yet] ask for forgiveness.
Whoever chooses to follow the right path, follows it but for his own good; and whoever goes astray. goes but astray to his own hurt; and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another" burden.* Moreover. We would never chastise [any community for the wrong they may do[ ere We have sent an apostle [to them].*
And [bear in mind:] there is no community which We will not destroy before the Day of Resurrection,* or chastise [even earlier, if it proves sinful,] with suffering severe: all this is laid down in Our decree.*
Unto God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. And whether you bring into the open what is in your minds or conceal it, God will call you to account for it; and then He will forgive whom He wills, and will chastise whom He wills: for God has the power to will anything.
"And as for those who are bent on denying the truth, I shall cause them to suffer a suffering severe in this world and in the life to come, and they shall have none to succour them;
[And] it is in no wise for thee [O Prophet] to decide whether He shall accept their repentance or chastise them - for, behold, they are but wrongdoers,
whereas unto God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth: He forgives whom He wills, and He chastises whom He wills; and God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.*
whereupon unto those who attained to faith and did good deeds He will grant their just rewards, and give them yet more out of His bounty; whereas those who felt too proud and gloried in their arrogance He will chastise with grievous suffering: and they shall find none to protect them from God, and none to bring them succour.
And [both] the Jews and the Christians say, "We are God's children,* and His beloved ones." Say: "Why, then, does He cause you to suffer for your sins? Nay, you are but human beings of His creating. He forgives whom He wills, and He causes to suffer whom He wills: for God's is the dominion over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and with Him is all journeys' end."
Dost thou not know that God's is the dominion over the heavens and the earth? He chastises whom He wills, and He forgives whom He wills: for God has the power to will anything.
God answered: "Verily, I [always] do send it down unto you:* and so, if any of you should henceforth deny [this] truth, on him, behold, will I inflict suffering the like of which I have never [yet] inflicted upon anyone in the world!"
If thou cause them to suffer - verily, they are Thy servants; and if Thou forgive them - verily, Thou alone art almighty, truly wise!"
But God did not choose thus to chastise them whip thou [O Prophet] wert still among them,* nor would God chastise them when they [might yet] ask for forgiveness.
But what have they [now] in their favour that God should not chastise them-seeing that they bar [the believers] from the Inviolable House of Worship, although they are not its [rightful] guardians?* None but the God-conscious can be its guardians: but of this most of these [evildoers] are unaware;
Fight against them! God will chastise them by your hands, and will bring disgrace upon them, and will succour you against them; and He will soothe the bosoms of those who believe,
whereupon God bestowed from on high His [gift of] inner peace upon His Apostle and upon the believers, and bestowed [upon you] from on high forces which you could not see,* and chastised those who were bent on denying the truth: for such is the recompense of all who deny the truth!
If you do not go forth to war [in God's cause], He will chastise you with grievous chastisement, and will place another people in your stead - whereas you shall in no wise harm Him: for, God has the power to will anything.
Let not, then, their worldly goods or [the happiness which they may derive from] their children excite thy admiration: God but wants to chastise them by these means in this worldly life, and [to cause] their souls to depart while they are [still] denying the truth.*
Do not offer [empty] excuses! You have indeed denied the truth after [having professed] your belief [in it] -* Though We may efface the sin of some of you, We shall chastise others - seeing that they were lost in sin.*
[The hypocrites] swear by God that they have said nothing [wrong]; yet most certainly have they uttered a saying which amounts to a denial of the truth,* and have [thus] denied the truth after [having professed] their self-surrender to God: for they were aiming at something which was beyond their reach.* And they could find no fault [with the Faith] save that God had enriched them and [caused] His Apostle [to enrich them] out of His bounty!* Hence, if they repent, it will be for their own good. but if they turn away, God will cause them to suffer grievous suffering in this world and in the life to come, and they will find no helper on earth, and none to give [them] succour.
And let not their worldly goods and [the happiness which they may derive from] their children excite thy admiration: God but wants to chastise them by these means in [the life of] this world, and [to cause] their souls to depart while they are [still] denying the truth.*
But among the bedouin who dwell around you there are hypocrites; and among the people of the [Prophet's] City* [too] there are such as have grown insolent in [their] hypocrisy. Thou dost not [always] know them, [O Muhammad - but] We know them. We shall cause them to suffer doubly [in this world];* and then they will be given over to awesome suffering [in the life to come].
And [there are yet] others-[people whose cases are] deferred until God wills to judge them:* He will either chastise them or turn again unto them in His mercy-for God is all-knowing, wise.
Your Sustainer is fully aware of what you are [and what you deserve]: if He so wills, he will bestow [His] grace upon you; and if He so wills, He will chastise you. Hence, We have not sent thee [unto men, O Prophet,] with the power to determine their fate,*
[And he marched westwards] till, when he came to the setting of the sun,* it appeared to him that it was setting in a dark, turbid sea;* and nearby he found a people [given to every kind of wrongdoing]. We said: "O thou Two-Horned One! Thou mayest either cause [them] to suffer or treat them with kindness!"*
He answered: "As for him who does wrong [unto others* ] - him shall we, in time, cause to suffer; and thereupon he shall be referred to his Sustainer, and He will cause him to suffer with unnameable suffering.*
Go, then; you two unto him and say, `Behold, we are apostles sent by thy Sustainer: let, then, the children of Israel go with us, and cause them not to suffer [any longer].* We have now come unto thee with a message from thy Sustainer; and [know that His] peace shall be [only] on those who follow [His] guidance:
[If so,] I will punish him most severely or will kill him unless he bring me a convincing excuse!"*
He causes to suffer whomever He wills, and bestows His mercy on whomever He wills; and unto Him you shall be made to return:
[Such trials are imposed upon man] so that God may reward the truthful for having been true to their word, and cause the hypocrites to suffer - if that be His will - or [if they repent,] accept their repentance:* for, verily, God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!
[And so it is] that God imposes suffering on the hypocrites, both men and women, as well as on the men and women who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him.* And [so, too, it is] that God turns in His mercy unto the believing men and believing women: for God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!
And [God has willed] to impose suffering [in the life to come] on the hypocrites, both men and women, and on those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, both men and women: all who entertain evil thoughts about God.* Evil encompasses them from all sides, and God's condemnation rests upon them; and He has rejected them [from His grace], and has readied hell for them: and how evil a journey's end!
But God's is the dominion over the heavens and the earth: He forgives whomever He wills, and imposes suffering on whomever He wills - and [withal,] He is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.*
Say unto those bedouin who stayed behind: In time you will be called upon [to fight] against people of great prowess in war:* you will have to fight against them [until you die] or they surrender. And then, if you heed [that call], God will bestow on you a goodly reward; but if you turn away as you turned away this time,* He will chastise you with grievous chastisement."
No blame attaches to the blind, nor does blame attach to the lame, nor does blame attach to the sick [for staying away from a war in God's cause];* but whoever heeds [the call of] God and His Apostle [in deed or in heart],* him will He admit into gardens through which running waters flow; whereas him who turns away will He chastise with grievous chastisement.
[It was not for your enemies sake that He stayed your hands from them: for]* it was they who were bent on denying the truth, and who debarred you from the Inviolable House of Worship* and prevented your offering from reaching its destination.* And had it not been for the believing men and believing women [in Mecca ], whom you might have unwittingly trampled underfoot,* and on whose account you might have become guilty, without knowing it, of a grievous wrong-: [had it not been for this, you would have been allowed to fight your way into the city: but you were forbidden to fight]* so that [in time] God might admit to His grace whomever He wills.* Had they [who deserve Our mercy and they whom We have condemned] been clearly discernible [to you],* We would indeed have imposed grievous suffering [at your hands] on such of them as were bent on denying the truth.
Art thou not aware of such as have been forbidden [to intrigue through] secret confabulations,* and yet [always] revert to that which they have been forbidden, and conspire with one another with a view to sinful doings, and aggressive conduct, and disobedience to the Apostle?* Now whenever such [people] approach thee, [O Muhammad,]* they salute thee with a greeting which God has never countenanced;* and they say to themselves, Why does not God chastise us for what we are saying?"* Hell shall be their allotted portion: they shall [indeed] enter it - and how vile a journey's end!
And had it not been for God's having ordained banishment for them, He would indeed have imposed [yet greater] suffering on them in this world: still, in the life to come there awaits them suffering through fire:
AND HOW MANY a community has turned with disdain from the commandment of its Sustainer and His apostles!* -whereupon We callled them all to account with an accounting severe, and caused them to suffer with a suffering unnameable:
him will God cause to suffer the greatest suffering [in the life to come]:
For, none can make suffer as He will make suffer [the sinners] on that Day,
God; has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil;* and awesome suffering awaits them.
In their hearts is disease, and so God lets their disease increase; and grievous suffering awaits them because of their persistent lying.*
And [remember the time] when We saved you from Pharaoh's people, who afflicted you with cruel suffering, slaughtering your sons and sparing [only] your women* - which was an awesome trial from your Sustainer;
And yet, it is you who slay one another and drive some of your own people from their homelands, aiding one another against them in sin and hatred; but if they come to you as captives, you ransom them - although the very [act of] driving them away has been made unlawful to you!* . Do you, then, believe in some parts of the divine writ and deny the truth pf other parts? What, then, could be the reward of those among you who do such things but ignominy in the life of this world and, on the Day of Resurrection, commitment to most grievous suffering? For God is not unmindful of what you do.
All who buy the life of this world at the price of the life to come - their suffering shall not be lightened, nor shall they be succoured!
Vile is that [false pride] for which they have sold their own selves by denying the truth of what God has bestowed from on high, out of envy that God should bestow aught of His favour upon whomsoever He wills of His servants:* and thus have they earned the burden of God's condemnation, over and over. And for those who deny the truth there is shameful suffering in store.
And thou wilt most certainly find that they cling to life more eagerly than any other people, even more than those who are bent on ascribing divinity to other beings beside God: every one of them would love to live a thousand years, although the grant of long life could not save him from suffering [in the hereafter]: for God sees all that they do.
O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not say [to the Prophet], "Listen to us," but rather say, "Have patience with us," and hearken [unto him], since grievous suffering awaits those who deny the truth.*
Hence, who could be more wicked than those who bar the mention of God's name from [any of] His houses of worship and strive for their ruin, [although] they have no right to enter them save in fear [of God]?* For them, in this world, there is ignominy in store; and for them, in the life to come, awesome suffering.
And, lo, Abraham prayed: "O my Sustainer! Make this a land secure, and grant its people fruitful sustenance - such of them as believe in God and the Last Day." [God] answered: "And whoever shall deny the truth, him will I let enjoy himself for a short while -but in the end I shall drive him to suffering through fire: and how vile a journey's end!"
In this state shall they abide; [and] neither will their suffering, be lightened, nor will they be granted respite.
And yet there are people who choose to believe in beings that allegedly rival God,* loving them as [only] God should be loved: whereas those who have attained to faith love God more than all else. If they who are bent on evildoing could but see - as see they will when they are made to suffer* [on Resurrection Day] -that all might belongs to God alone, and that God is severe in [meting out] punishment!
[On that Day] it will come to pass that those who had been [falsely] adored* shall disown their followers, and the latter shall see the suffering [that awaits them], with all their hopes* cut to pieces!
VERILY, as for those who suppress aught of the revelation* which God has bestowed from on high, and barter it away for a trifling gain - they but fill their bellies with fire. And God will not speak unto them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He cleanse them [of their sins]; and grievous suffering awaits them.
It is they who take error in exchange for guidance, and suffering in exchange for forgiveness: yet how little do they seem to fear the fire!
O YOU who have attained to faith! Just retribution is ordained for you in cases of killing: the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the woman for the woman.* And if something [of his guilt] is remitted to a guilty person by his brother,* this [remission] shall be adhered to with fairness, and restitution to his fellow-man shall be made in a goodly manner.* This is an alleviation from your Sustainer, and an act of His grace. And for him who, none the less,* wilfully transgresses the bounds of what is right, there is grievous suffering in store:
But there are among them such as pray, "O our Sustainer! Grant us good in this world and good in the life to come, and keep us safe from suffering through the fire":
aforetime, as a guidance unto mankind, and it is He who has bestowed [upon man] the standard by which to discern the true from the false.* Behold, as for those who are bent on denying God's messages - grievous suffering awaits them: for God is almighty, an avenger of evil.
those who say, "O our Sustainer! Behold, we believe [in Thee]; forgive us, then, our sins, and keep us safe from suffering through the fire" - :
Verily, as for those who deny the truth of God's messages, and slay the prophets against all right, and slay people who enjoin equity* - announce unto them a grievous chastisement.
"And as for those who are bent on denying the truth, I shall cause them to suffer a suffering severe in this world and in the life to come, and they shall have none to succour them;
Behold, those who barter away their bond with God and their own pledges for a trifling gain - they shall not partake in the blessings of the life to come; and God will neither speak unto them nor look upon them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He cleanse them of their sins; and grievous suffering awaits them.
In this state shall they abide; [and] neither will their suffering be lightened, nor will they be granted respite.
Verily, as for those who are bent on denying the truth and die as deniers of the truth - not all the gold on earth could ever be their ransom.* It is they for whom grievous suffering is in store; and they shall have none to succour them.
And be not like those who have drawn apart from one another and have taken to conflicting views after all evidence of the truth has come unto them:* for these it is for whom tremendous suffering is in store
on the Day [of Judgment] when some faces will shine [with happiness] and some faces will be dark [with grief]. And as for those with faces darkened, [they shall be told:] "Did you deny the truth after having attained to faith? Taste, then, this suffering for having denied the truth!"
And be not grieved by those who vie with one another in denying the truth: verily, they can in no wise harm God. It is God's will that they shall have no share* in the [blessings of the] life to come; and tremendous suffering awaits them.
Verily, they who have bought a denial of the truth at the price of faith can in no wise harm God, whereas grievous suffering awaits them.
And they should not think - they who are bent on denying the truth - that Our giving them rein is good for them: We give them rein only to let them grow in sinfulness; and shameful suffering awaits them.*
God has indeed heard the saying of those who said, "Behold, God is poor while we are rich!"* We shall record what they have said, as well as their slaying of prophets against all right,* and We shall say [unto them on Judgment Day]: "Taste suffering through fire
Think not that those who exult in what they have thus contrived, and who love to be praised for what they have not done* - think not that they will escape suffering: for grievous suffering does await them [in the life to come].
[and] who remember God when they stand, and when they sit, and when they lie down to sleep,* and [thus] reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: "O our Sustainer! Thou hast not created [aught of] this without meaning and purpose.* Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Keep us safe, then, from suffering through fire!
And whoever rebels against God and His Apostle and transgresses His bounds, him will He commit unto fire, therein to abide; and shameful suffering awaits him.
whereas repentance shall not be accepted from those who do evil deeds until their dying hour and then say,* "Behold, I now repent"; nor from those who die as deniers of the truth: it is these for whom We have readied grievous suffering.
And as for those of you who, owing to circumstances, are not in a position* to marry free believing women, [let them marry] believing maidens from among those whom you rightfully possess.* And God knows all about your faith; each one of you is an issue of the other.* Marry them, then, with their people's leave, and give them their dowers in an equitable manner - they being women who give themselves in honest wedlock, not in fornication, nor as secret love-companions.* And when they are married, and thereafter become guilty of immoral conduct, they shall be liable to half the penalty to which free married women are liable.* This [permission to marry slave-girls applies] to those of you who fear lest they stumble into evil.* But it is for your own good to persevere in patience [and to abstain from such marriages]: and God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
[nor] those who are niggardly, and bid others to be niggardly, and conceal whatever God has bestowed upon them out of His bounty; and so We have readied shameful suffering for all who thus deny the truth.
for, verily, those who are bent on denying the truth of Our messages We shall, in time, cause to endure fire: [and] every time their skins are burnt off, We shall replace them with new skins, so that they may taste suffering [in full]* Verily, God is almighty, wise.
But whoever deliberately slays another believer, his requital shall be hell, therein to abide; and God will condemn him, and will reject him, and will prepare for him awesome suffering.
Thus, when thou art among the believers* and about to lead them in prayer, let [only] part of them stand up with thee, retaining their arms. Then, after they have finished their prayer, let them provide you cover* while another group, who have not yet prayed, shall come forward and pray with thee, being fully prepared against danger and retaining their arms: (for) those who are bent on denying the truth would love to see you oblivious of your arms and your equipment, so that they might fall upon you in a surprise attack.* But it shall not be wrong for you to lay down your arms [while you pray] if you are troubled by rain* or if you are ill; but [always] be fully prepared against danger. Verily, God has readied shameful suffering for all who deny the truth!
Announce thou to such hypocrites that grievous suffering awaits them.
Why would God cause you to suffer [for your past sins] if you are grateful and attain to belief - seeing that God is always responsive to gratitude, all-knowing?*
it is they, they who are truly denying the truth: and for those who deny the truth We have readied shameful suffering.
and [for] their taking usury although it had been forbidden to them, and their wrongful devouring of other people's possessions. And for those from among them who [continue to] deny the truth We have readied grievous suffering.
whereupon unto those who attained to faith and did good deeds He will grant their just rewards, and give them yet more out of His bounty; whereas those who felt too proud and gloried in their arrogance He will chastise with grievous suffering: and they shall find none to protect them from God, and none to bring them succour.
It is but a just recompense for those who make war on God and His apostle,* and endeavour to spread corruption on earth, that they are being slain in great' numbers, or crucified in great numbers, or have, in l' result of their perverseness, their hands and feet cut off in great numbers,* or are being [entirely] banished from [the face of] the earth: such is their ignominy in this world .* But in the life to come [yet more] awesome suffering awaits them-
Verily, if those who are bent on denying the truth had all that is on earth, and twice as much,* to offer as ransom from suffering on the Day of Resurrection, it would not be accepted from them: for grievous suffering awaits them.
They will wish to come out of the fire, but they shall not come out of it; and long-lasting suffering awaits them.
O APOSTLE! Be not grieved by those who vie with one another in denying the truth: such as those* who say with their mouths, "We believe," the while their hearts do not believe; and such of the Jewish faith as eagerly listen to any falsehood, eagerly listen to other people without having come to thee [for enlightenment].* They distort the meaning of the [revealed] words, taking them out of their context, saying [to themselves], "If such-and-such [teaching] is vouchsafed unto you, accept it; but if it is not vouchsafed unto you, be on your guard!"* [Be not grieved by them-] for if God wills anyone to be tempted to evil, thou canst in no wise prevail with God in his behalf.* It is they whose hearts God is not willing to cleanse. Theirs shall be ignominy in this world, and awesome suffering in the life to come-
Indeed, the truth deny they who say, "Behold, God is the third of a trinity" - seeing that there is no deity whatever save the One God. And unless they desist from this their assertion, grievous suffering is bound to befall such of them as are bent on denying the truth.
[And now] thou canst see many of them allying themselves with those who are bent on denying the truth! [So] vile indeed is what their passions make them do* that God has condemned them; and in suffering shall they abide.
O YOU who have attained to faith! Most certainly God will try you by means of the game which may come within the reach of your hands and your weapons* [while you are on pilgrimage], so that God might mark out those who fear Him although He is beyond the reach of human perception.* And as for him who, after all this, transgresses the bounds of what is right-grievous suffering awaits him!
God answered: "Verily, I [always] do send it down unto you:* and so, if any of you should henceforth deny [this] truth, on him, behold, will I inflict suffering the like of which I have never [yet] inflicted upon anyone in the world!"
Say: "Behold, I would dread, were I [thus] to rebel against my Sustainer, the suffering [which would befall me] on that awesome Day [of Judgment]."
If thou couldst but see [them] when they shall be made to stand before their Sustainer [and] He will say, "Is not this the truth?" They will answer: "Yea, indeed, by our Sustainer!" [Whereupon] He will say: "Taste, then, the suffering that comes from* your having refused to acknowledge the truth!"
Say: "Can you see yourselves invoking any but God when God's chastisement befalls you [in this world], or the Last Hour comes upon you? [Tell me this,] if you are men of truth!
Say: "Can you imagine what your condition will be* if God's chastisement befalls you, either suddenly or in a [gradually] perceptible manner? [But then-] will any but evildoing folk [ever] be destroyed?*
whereas those who give the lie to Our messages - suffering will afflict them in result of all their sinful doings.
Say: "It is He alone who has the power to let loose upon you suffering from above you or from beneath your feet,* or to confound you with mutual discord and let you taste the fear of one another."* Behold how many facets we give to these messages, so that they might understand the truth.
And leave to themselves all those who, beguiled by the life of this world, have made play and passing delights their religion;* but remind [them] herewith that [in the life to come] every human being shall be held in pledge for whatever wrong he has done, and shall have none to protect him from God, and none to intercede for him; and though he offer any conceivable ransom,* it shall not be accepted from him. It is [people such as] these that shall be held in pledge for the wrong they have done; for them there is [in the life to come] a draught of burning despair* and grievous suffering awaits them because of their persistent refusal to acknowledge the truth.
And who could be more wicked than he who invents a lie about God,* or says, "This has been revealed unto me," the while nothing has been revealed to him? - or he who says, "I, too, can bestow from on high the like of what God has bestowed"?* If thou couldst but see [how it will be] when these evildoers find themselves in the agonies of death, and the angels stretch forth their hands [and call]: "Give up your souls! Today you shall be requited with the suffering of humiliation for having attributed to God something that is not true, and for having persistently scorned His messages in your arrogance!"
And whenever. a [divine] message comes to them, they say, "We shall not believe unless we are given the like of what God's apostles were given!"* [But] God knows best upon whom to bestow His message. Abasement in the sight of God will befall those who have become guilty of evildoing, and suffering severe for all the schemes which they were wont to weave.
or lest you say, "If a divine writ had been bestowed from on high upon us, we would surely have followed its guidance better than they did."* And so, a clear evidence of the truth has now come unto you from your Sustainer, and guidance, and grace. Who, then, could be more wicked than he who gives the lie to God's messages, and turns away from them in disdain? We shall requite those who turn away from Our messages in disdain with evil suffering for having thus turned away!
[And God] will say: "Join those hosts of invisible beings and humans who have gone before you into the fire!" [And] every time a host enters [the fire], it will curse its fellow-host -so much so that, when they all shall have passed into it, one after another, the last of them will speak [thus] of the first of them:* "O our Sustainer! It is they who have led us astray: give, them, therefore, double suffering through fire!" He, will reply: "Every one of you deserves double suffering* -but you know it not."
And the first of them will say unto the last of them: "So you were in no wise superior to us!* Taste, then, this suffering for all [the evil] that you were wont to do!"
INDEED, We sent forth Noah unto his people,* and he said: "O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Verily, I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome Day!"*
AND UNTO [the tribe of] Thamud [We sent] their brother salih* He said: "O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has now come unto you from your Sustainer. "This she-camel belonging to God shall be a token for you: so leave her alone to pasture on God's earth, and do her no harm, lest grievous chastisement befall you.*
And [he reminded them of this word of God]: "Lo, We saved you from Pharaoh's people who afflicted you with cruel suffering, slaying your sons in great numbers and sparing [only] your women - which was an awesome trial from your Sustainer."*
And ordain Thou for us what is good in this world as well as in the life to come: behold, unto Thee have we turned in repentance!" [God] answered: "With My chastisement do I afflict whom I will - but My grace overspreads everything:* and so I shall confer it on those who are conscious of Me and spend in charity, and who believe in Our messages-
And whenever some people* among them asked [those who tried to restrain the Sabbath-breakers], "Why do you preach to people whom God is about to destroy or [at least] to chastise with suffering severe?" -the pious ones* would answer, "In order to be free from blame before your Sustainer, and that these [transgressors, too,] might become conscious of Him."
And thereupon, when those [sinners] had forgotten all that they had been told to take to. heart, We saved those who had tried to prevent the doing of evil,* and overwhelmed those who had been bent on evildoing with dreadful suffering for all their iniquity;
And lo! Thy Sustainer made it known that most certainly He would rouse against them, unto Resurrection Day, people who would afflict them with cruel suffering: verily, thy Sustainer is swift in retribution - yet, verily, He is [also] much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
This [for you, O enemies of God]! Taste it, then, [and know] that suffering through fire awaits those who deny the truth!
And, lo, they would say, "O God! If this. be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down upon us stones from the skies, or inflict [some other] grievous suffering on us!*
and their prayers before the Temple are nothing but whistling and clapping of hands.* Taste then, [O unbelievers,] this chastisement as an outcome of your persistent denial of the truth!*
AND IF thou couldst but see [how it will be] when He causes those who are bent on denying the truth to die: the angels will strike their faces: and their backs,* and [will say]: "Taste suffering through fire
Had it not been for a decree from God that had already gone forth, there would indeed have befallen you a tremendous chastisement on account of all [the captives] that you took.*
And a proclamation from God and His Apostle [is herewith made] unto all mankind on this day of the Greatest Pilgrimage:* "God disavows all who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, and [so does] His Apostle. Hence, if you repent, it shall be for your own good; and if you turn away, then know that you can never elude God!" And unto those who are bent on denying the truth give thou [O Prophet] the tiding of grievous chastisement.
O you who have attained to faith! Behold, many of the rabbis and monks do indeed wrongfully devour men's possessions and turn [others] away from the path of God. But as for all who lay up treasures of gold and silver and do not spend them for the sake of Gods* - give them the tiding of grievous suffering [in the life to come]:
If you do not go forth to war [in God's cause], He will chastise you with grievous chastisement, and will place another people in your stead - whereas you shall in no wise harm Him: for, God has the power to will anything.
Say: "Are you, perchance, hopefully waiting for something [bad] to happen to us-[the while nothing can happen to us] save one of the two best things?* But as far as you are concerned, we are hopefully waiting for God to inflict chastisement upon you, [either] from Himself* or by our hands! Wait, then, hopefully; behold, we shall hopefully wait with you!"
AND AMONG those [enemies of the truth] there are such as malign the Prophet by saying, "He is all ear."* Say: "[Yes,] he is all ear, [listening] to what is good for you!* He believes in God, and trusts the believers, and is [a manifestation of God's] grace towards such of you as have [truly] attained to faith. And as for those who malign God's Apostle - grievous suffering awaits them [in the life to come]!"
God- has promised the hypocrites, both men and women-as well as the [outright] deniers of the _ truth-the fire of hell, therein to abide: this shall be their allotted_ portion. For, God has rejected them, and long-lasting suffering awaits them.
[The hypocrites] swear by God that they have said nothing [wrong]; yet most certainly have they uttered a saying which amounts to a denial of the truth,* and have [thus] denied the truth after [having professed] their self-surrender to God: for they were aiming at something which was beyond their reach.* And they could find no fault [with the Faith] save that God had enriched them and [caused] His Apostle [to enrich them] out of His bounty!* Hence, if they repent, it will be for their own good. but if they turn away, God will cause them to suffer grievous suffering in this world and in the life to come, and they will find no helper on earth, and none to give [them] succour.
[It is these hypocrites] who find fault with such of the believers as give for the sake of God* more than they are duty-bound to give, as well as with, such as find nothing [to give] beyond [the meagre fruits of] their toil, and who scoff at them [all].* God will cause their scoffing to rebound on themselves.* and grievous suffering awaits them.
AND THERE came [unto the Apostle] such of the bedouin as had some excuse to offer, [with the request] that they be granted exemption,* whereas those who were bent on giving the lie to God and His Apostle [simply] remained at home.* [And] grievous suffering is bound to befall such of them as are bent on denying the truth!
But among the bedouin who dwell around you there are hypocrites; and among the people of the [Prophet's] City* [too] there are such as have grown insolent in [their] hypocrisy. Thou dost not [always] know them, [O Muhammad - but] We know them. We shall cause them to suffer doubly [in this world];* and then they will be given over to awesome suffering [in the life to come].
Unto Him you all must return: this is, in truth, God's promise-for, behold, He creates [man] in the first instance, and then brings him forth anew* to the end that He may reward with equity all who attain to faith and do righteous deeds; whereas for those who are bent on denying the truth there is in store a draught of burning despair and grievous suffering because of their persistent refusal to acknowledge the truth.*
AND [thus it is:] whenever Our messages are conveyed unto them in all their clarity, those who do not believe that they are destined to meet Us [are wont to] say, "Bring us a discourse other than this, or alter this one."* Say [O Prophet]: "It is not conceivable that I should alter it of my own volition; I only follow what is revealed to me. Behold, I would dread, were I [thus] to rebel against my Sustainer, the suffering [which would befall me] on that ,awesome Day [of Judgment]!"
Say: "Have you ever considered [how you would feel] if His chastisement were to befall you by night or by day? What could there be in that prospect that people lost in sin should wish to hasten?*
-whereupon those who [in their lifetime] were bent on evildoing will be told, `Taste suffering abiding! Is this requital anything but the just due for what you were wont to do?"*
And all human beings that have been doing evil's* would surely, if they possessed all that is on earth, offer it as ransom [on Judgment Day];* and when they see the suffering [that awaits them], they will be unable to express their remorse.* But judgment will be passed on them in all equity; and they will not be wronged.
[A brief] enjoyment in this world-and thereafter unto Us they must return: and then We shall let them taste suffering severe as an outcome of their persistent denial of the truth.
And Moses prayed: "O our Sustainer! Verily, splendour and riches hast Thou vouchsafed, in the life of this world, unto Pharaoh and his great ones-with the result, O our Sustainer, that they are leading [others] astray from Thy path!* O our Sustainer! Wipe out their riches, and harden their hearts, so that they may not attain to faith ere they see the grievous suffering [that awaits them]!"
even though every sign [of the truth] should come within their ken - until they behold the grievous suffering [that awaits them in the life to come].*
For, alas,* there has never yet been any community that attained to faith [in its entirety,] and thereupon benefited by its faith, except the people of Jonah.* When they came to believe, We removed from them the suffering of disgrace [which otherwise would have befallen them even] in the life of this world, and allowed them to enjoy their life during the time allotted to them.*
Ask your Sustainer to forgive you your sins, and then turn towards Him in repentance - [whereupon] He will grant you a goodly enjoyment of life [in this world] until a term set [by Him is fulfilled];* and [in the life to come] He will bestow upon everyone possessed of merit [a full reward for] his merit.* But if you turn away, then, verily, I dread for you the suffering [which is bound to befall you] on that awesome Day*
And thus it is: if We defer their suffering until a time-limit set [by Us],* they are sure to say, "What is preventing it [from coming now]?"* Oh, verily, on the Day when it befalls them there will be nothing to avert it from them; and they shall be overwhelmed by the very thing which they were wont to deride.*
Never can they elude [their final reckoning, even if they remain unscathed] on earth :* never will they find anyone who could protect them from God. [In the life to come] double suffering will be imposed on them* for having lost the ability to hear [the truth] and having failed to see [it].*
that you may worship none but God-for, verily, I fear lest suffering befall you on a grievous Day!"*
But in time you will come to know who it is that [in this world] shall be visited by suffering which will cover him with ignominy, and upon whom long lasting suffering shall alight [in the life to come]!"
[Thereupon] the word was spoken: "O Noah! Disembark in peace from Us,* and with [Our] blessings upon thee as well as upon the people [who are with thee, and the righteous ones that will spring from thee and] from those who are with thee.* But [as for the unrighteous] folk [that will spring from you] - We shall allow them to enjoy life [for a little while], and then there will befall them grievous suffering from Us."
And so, when Our judgment came to pass,* by Our grace We saved Hud and those who shared his faith; and We saved them [too] from suffering severe [in the life to come].*
And [then he said]: "O my people! This she-camel belonging to God shall be a token for you: so leave her alone to pasture on God's earth, and do her no harm, lest speedy chastisement befall you!"*
[But God's messengers replied:] "O Abraham! Desist from this [pleading]! Behold, thy Sustainer's judgment has already gone forth: and, verily, there shall fall upon them a chastisement which none can avert!"
AND UNTO [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu'ayb.* He said: "O my people! Worship God [alone]: you have no deity other than Him; and do not give short measure and weight [in any of your dealings with men].* Behold, I see you [now] in a happy state; but, verily, I dread lest suffering befall you on a Day that will encompass [you with doom]!
Hence, O my people, do [to me] anything that may be within your power, [while] I, behold, shall labour [in God's way]; in time you will come to know which [of us] shall be visited by suffering that will cover him with ignominy, and which [of us] is a liar. Watch, then, [for what is coming:] behold, I shall watch with you!"
Herein, behold, lies a message indeed for all who fear the suffering [which may befall them] in the life to come, (and are conscious of the coming of] that Day on which all mankind shall be gathered together-that Day [of Judgment] which shall be witnessed [by all that ever lived],
And they both rushed to the door; and she [grasped and] rent his tunic from behind-and [lo!] they met her lord at the door! Said she: "What ought to be the punishment of one who had evil designs on [the virtue of] thy wife - [what] but imprisonment or a [yet more] grievous chastisement?"
Do they, then, feel free from the fear that there might fall upon them the overwhelming terror of God's chastisement, or that the Last Hour might come upon them of a sudden, without their being aware [of its approach]?
For such, there is suffering in the life of this world;* but, truly, [their] suffering in the life to come will be harder still, and they will have none to shield them from God.
to God, unto whom all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth belongs. But woe unto those who deny the truth: for suffering severe
And, lo* Moses spoke [thus] unto his people: "Remember the blessings which God bestowed upon you when He saved you from Pharaoh's people who afflicted you with cruel suffering, and slaughtered your sons, and spared [only] your women* -which was an awesome trial from your Sustainer.
And [remember the time] when your Sustainer made [this promise] known: 'If you are grateful [to Me], I shall most certainly give you more and more;* but if you are ungrateful, verily, My chastisement will be severe indeed!"'
gulping it [unceasingly,] little by little, and yet hardly able to swallow it.* And death will beset him from every quarter - but he shall not die: for [yet more] severe suffering lies ahead of him.
And all [mankind] will appear before God [on the Day of Judgment]; and then the weak* will say unto those who had gloried in their arrogance: "Behold, We were but your followers: can you, then, relieve us of something of God's chastisement?" [And the others] will answer: "If God would but show us the way [to salvation], we would indeed guide you [towards it].* It is [now] all one, as far as we are concerned, whether we grieve impatiently or endure [our lot] with patience: there is no escape for us!"
And when everything will have been decided, Satan will say: "Behold, God promised you something that was bound to come true!* I, too, held out [all manner of] promises to you -but I deceived you. Yet I had no power at all over you: I but called you-and you responded unto me. Hence, blame not me, but blame yourselves.* It is not for me to respond to your cries, nor for you to respond to mine:* for, behold, I have [always] refused to admit that there was any truth in your erstwhile belief that I had a share in God's divinity."* Verily, for all evildoers* there is grievous suffering in store.
Hence, warn men of the Day when this suffering may befall them, and when those who did wrong [in their lifetime] will exclaim: "O our Sustainer! Grant us respite for a short while, so that we might respond to Thy call and follow the apostles!"* [But God will answer:] "Why - were you not aforetime wont to swear that no kind of resurrection and retribution awaited you?*
and [also,] that the suffering which I shall impose [on sinners] will indeed be a suffering most grievous.*
Those who lived before them did, too, devise many a blasphemy* -whereupon God visited with destruction all that they had ever built,* [striking] at its very foundations, so that the roof fell in upon them from above* and suffering befell them without their having perceived whence it came.
Can, then, they who devise evil schemes* ever feel sure that God will not cause the earth to swallow them,* or that suffering will not befall them without their perceiving whence [it came]? -
By God, [O Prophet,] even before thy time have We sent apostles unto [various] communities: but [those who were bent on denying the truth have always refused to listen to Our messages because] Satan has made all their own doings seem goodly to them: and he is [as] close to them today* [as he was to the sinners of yore]; hence, grievous suffering awaits them.
And when they who were bent on evildoing behold the suffering [that awaits them, they will realize that] it will not be lightened for them [by virtue of their pleading] ; and neither will they be granted respite.
Upon all who were bent on denying the truth and who turned others away from the path of God will We heap suffering upon suffering in return for all the corruption that they wrought:
And do not use your oaths as a means of deceiving one another-or else [your] foot will slip after having been firm,* and then you will have to taste the evil [consequences]* of your having turned away from the path of God, with tremendous suffering awaiting you [in the life to come].
Verily, as for those who will not believe in God's messages, God does not guide them aright; and grievous suffering will be their lot [in the life to come].
As for anyone who denies God after having once attained to faith-and this, to be sure, does not apply to* one who does it under duress, the while his heart remains true to his faith,* but [only, to] him who willingly opens up his heart to a denial of the truth-: upon all such [falls] God's condemnation, and tremendous suffering awaits them:
And indeed, there had come unto them an apostle from among themselves -but they gave him the lie; and therefore suffering overwhelmed them while they were thus doing wrong [to themselves].
A brief enjoyment [may be theirs in this world] -but grievous suffering awaits them [in the life to come]!
and [it announces, too,] that We have readied grievous suffering for those who will not believe in the life to come.
Those [saintly beings] whom they invoke are themselves striving to obtain their Sustainer's favour - [even] those among them who are closest [to Him]* - hoping for His grace and dreading His chastisement: for, verily, thy Sustainer's chastisement is something to beware of!
And [bear in mind:] there is no community which We will not destroy before the Day of Resurrection,* or chastise [even earlier, if it proves sinful,] with suffering severe: all this is laid down in Our decree.*
for, what is there to keep people from attaining to faith now that guidance has come unto them, and from asking their Sustainer to forgive them their sins - unless it be [their wish] that the fate of the [sinful] people of ancient times should befall them [as well], or that the [ultimate] suffering should befall them in the hereafter?*
Yet, [withal,] thy Sustainer is the Truly-Forgiving One, limitless in His grace. Were He to take them [at once] to task for whatever [wrong] they commit, He would indeed bring about their speedy punishment [then and there]:* but nay, they have a time-limit beyond which they shall find no redemption*
He answered: "As for him who does wrong [unto others* ] - him shall we, in time, cause to suffer; and thereupon he shall be referred to his Sustainer, and He will cause him to suffer with unnameable suffering.*
O my father! I dread lest a chastisement from the Most Gracious befall thee, and then thou wilt become [aware of having been] close unto Satan!"*
Say: "As for him who lives in error, may the Most Gracious lengthen the span of his life!* [And let them say whatever they say* until the time when they behold that [doom] of which they were forewarned-whether it be suffering [in this world] or [at the coming of] the Last Hour -: for then they will understand which [of the two kinds of man] was worse in station and weaker in resources!*
Nay! We shall record what he says, and We shall lengthen the length of his suffering [in the hereafter],
for, behold, it has been revealed to us that [in the life to come] suffering shall befall all who give the lie to the truth and turn away [from it]!"'
Said Moses to them: "Woe unto you! Do not invent lies against God,* lest He afflict you with most grievous suffering: for He who contrives [such] a lie is already undone!"
Said [Pharaoh]: "Have you come to believe in him* ere I have given you permission? Verily, he must be your master who has taught you magic! But I shall most certainly cut off your hands and feet in great numbers, because of [your] perverseness, and I shall most certainly crucify you in great numbers on trunks of palm-trees:* and [I shall do this] so that you might come to know for certain as to which of us [two]* can inflict a more severe chastisement, and [which] is the more abiding!"
For, thus shall We recompense him who wastes his own self* and does not believe in his Sustainer's messages: and, indeed, the suffering [of such sinners] in the life to come shall be most severe and most enduring!
For [thus it is:] had We destroyed them by means of a chastisement ere this [divine writ was revealed], they would indeed [be justified to] say [on Judgment Day]: "O our Sustainer! If only Thou hadst sent an apostle unto us, we would have followed Thy messages rather than be humiliated and disgraced [in the hereafter]!"*
And yet, if but a breath of thy Sustainer's chastisement touches them, they are sure to cry, Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we were evildoers!"
On the Day when you behold it, every woman that feeds a child at her breast will utterly forget her nursling, and every woman heavy with child will bring forth her burden [before her time]; and it will seem to thee that all mankind is drunk,* although they will not be drunk - but vehement will be [their dread of] God's chastisement.*
about which it has been decreed that whoever entrusts himself to it, him will it lead astray and guide towards the suffering of the blazing flame!
scornfully turning aside [from the truth] so as to lead [others] astray from the path of God. Disgrace [of the spirit] is in store for him in this world;* and on the Day of Resurrection We shall make him taste suffering through fire;
ART THOU NOT aware that before God prostrate themselves all [things and beings] that are in the heavens and all that are on earth* the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the beasts? And many human beings [submit to God consciously],* whereas many [others, having defied Him,] will inevitably have to suffer [in the life to come];* and he whom God shall scorn [on Resurrection Day] will have none who could bestow honour on him: for, verily, God does what He wills.
and every time they try in their anguish to come out of it, they shall be returned thereto and [be told]: Taste suffering through fire [to the full]!''
BEHOLD, as for those who are bent on denying the truth and bar [others] from the path of God* and from the Inviolable House of Worship which We have set up for all people alike - [both] those who dwell there and those who come from abroad - and all who seek to profane it* by [deliberate] evildoing: [all] such shall We cause to taste grievous suffering in the life to come.]*
And [so, O Muhammad,] they challenge thee to hasten the coming upon them of [God's] chastisement:* but God never fails to fulfill His promise - and, behold, in thy Sustainer's sight a day is like a thousand years of your reckoning.*
whereas those who are bent on denying the truth will not cease to be in doubt about Him until the Last Hour comes suddenly upon them and [supreme] suffering befalls them on a Day void of all hope.*
whereas for those who were bent on denying the truth and gave the lie to Our messages, there shall be shameful suffering in store.
until - after We shall have taken to task, through suffering, those from among them who [now] are lost in the pursuit of pleasures -* they cry out in [belated] supplication.
And, indeed, We tested them* through suffering, but they did not abase themselves before their Sustainer; and they will never humble themselves
until We open before them a gate of [truly] severe suffering [in the life to come]: and then, lo! they will be broken in spirit.*
AS FOR the adulteress and the adulterer* flog each of them with a hundred stripes, and let not compassion with them keep you from [carrying out] this law of God, if you [truly] believe in God and the Last Day; and let a group of the believers witness their chastisement.*
But [as for the wife, all] chastisement shall be averted from her by her calling God four times to witness that he is indeed telling a lie,
Verily, numerous among you are those who would falsely accuse others of unchastity:* [but, O you who are thus wronged,] deem it not a bad thing for you: nay, it is good for you!* [As for the slanderers,] unto every one of them [will be accounted] all that he has earned by [thus] sinning; and awesome suffering awaits any of them who takes it upon himself to enhance this [sin]!*
And were it not for God's favour upon you, [O men,] and His grace in this world and in the life to come, awesome suffering would indeed have afflicted you* in result of all [the calumny] in which you indulge
Verily, as for those who like [to hear] foul slander spread against [any of] those who have attained to faith* grievous suffering awaits them in this world* and in the life to come: for God knows [the full truth], whereas you know [it] not.*
[But,] verily, those who [falsely, and without repentance,]* accuse chaste women who may have been unthinkingly careless but have remained true to their faith,* shall be rejected [from God's grace] in this world as well as in the life to come: and awesome suffering awaits them
DO NOT regard the Apostles summons to you* [in the same light] as a summons of one of you to another: God is indeed aware of those of you who would withdraw surreptitiously: so let those who would go against His bidding beware, lest a [bitter] trial befall them [in this world] or grievous suffering befall them [in the life to come].
[Thereupon God will say:] And now, they [whom you regarded as divine] have given the lie to all your [past] assertions, and you can neither ward off [your punishment] nor obtain any succour! For, whoever of you has committed [such] evil, him shall We cause to taste great suffering!"
And [think of] the people of Noah: when they gave the lie to [one of] the apostles, We caused them to drown, and made them a symbol for all mankind: for, grievous suffering have We readied for all who [knowingly] do wrong!
Indeed, he would well-nigh have led us astray from our deities, had we not been [so] steadfastly attached to them!" But in time, when they see the suffering [that awaits them], they will come to know who it was that went farthest astray from the path [of truth]!
and who pray: O our Sustainer, avert from us the suffering of hell - for, verily, the suffering caused by it is bound to be a torment dire:
[but] shall have his suffering doubled on Resurrection Day: for on that [Day] he shall abide in ignominy.
for, verily, I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome day!"
and do her no harm, lest suffering befall you on an awesome day!"
for the suffering [predicted by Salih,] befell them [then and there]. In this [story], behold, there is a message [unto men], even though most of them will not believe [in it].*
But they gave him the lie. And thereupon suffering overtook them on a day dark with shadows:* and, verily, it was the suffering of an awesome day!
they will not believe in it till they behold the grievous suffering
Do they, then, [really] wish that Our chastisement be hastened on?*
It is they whom the worst of suffering awaits: for it is they, they who in the life to come shall be the greatest losers!
[If so,] I will punish him most severely or will kill him unless he bring me a convincing excuse!"*
And [they] will be told: Call [now] unto those [beings or powers] to whom you were wont to ascribe a share in God's divinity!"* and they will call unto them [for help], but those [fake objects of worship] will not respond to them: whereupon they will see the suffering [that awaits them - the suffering which could have been avoided] if only they had allowed themselves to be guided!*
Now there is among men many a one who says [of himself and of others like him], We do believe in God" - but whenever he is made to suffer in God's cause, he thinks that persecution at the hands of man is as [much to be feared, or even more than,] God's chastisement;* whereas, if succour from thy Sustainer comes [to those who truly believe]* he is sure to say. Behold, we have always been with you!" Is not God fully aware of what is in the hearts of all creatures?
And [thus it is:] they who are bent on denying the truth of God's messages and of their [ultimate] meeting with Him - it is they who abandon all hope of My grace and mercy: and it is they whom grievous suffering awaits [in the life to come].*
Must you indeed approach men [with lust], and thus cut across the way [of nature]?* and must you commit these shameful deeds in your open] assemblies?" But his people's only answer was, Bring down upon us God's chastisement, if thou art a man of truth!"
Now they challenge thee to hasten the coming upon them of [God's] chastisement:* and indeed, had not a term been set [for it by God], that suffering would already have come upon them! But indeed, it will most certainly come upon them of a sudden, and they will be taken unawares.
They challenge thee to hasten the coming upon them of [God's] chastisement: but, verily, hell is bound to encompass all who deny the truth
[encompass them] on the Day when suffering will overwhelm them from above them and from beneath their feet,* whereupon He shall say: Taste [now the fruit of] your own doings!"
but as for those who refused to acknowledge the truth and gave the lie to Our messages - and (thus) to the announcement* of a life to come - they will be given over to suffering.
But among men there is many a one that prefers a mere play with words [to divine guidance],* so as to lead [those] without knowledge astray from the path of God, and to turn it to ridicule: for such there is shameful suffering in store.
For, whenever Our messages are conveyed to such a one, he turns away in his arrogance* as though he had not heard them - as though there were deafness in his ears. Give him, then, the tiding of grievous suffering [in the life to come].
and when such [people] are told to follow that which God has bestowed from on high, they answer, Nay, we shall follow that which we found our forefathers believing in and doing!" Why - [would you follow your forefathers] even if Satan had invited them unto the suffering of the blazing flame?*
We will let them enjoy themselves for a short while - but in the end We shall drive them into suffering severe.
[And He will say unto the sinners:] Taste, then, [the recompense] for your having been oblivious of the coming of this your Day [of Judgment] - for, verily, We are [now] oblivious of you: taste, then, [this] abiding suffering for all [the evil] that you were wont to do!"
but as for those who are lost in iniquity - their goal is the fire: as oft as they will try to come out of it, they will be thrown back into it; and they will be told, Taste [now] this suffering through fire which you were wont to call a lie!"
However, ere [We condemn them to] that supreme suffering, We shall most certainly let them taste of a suffering closer at hand,* so that they might [repent and] mend their ways.*
so that [at the end of time] He might ask those men of truth as to [what response] their truthfulness [had received on earth].* And grievous suffering has He readied for all who deny the truth!
O wives of the Prophet! If any of you were to become guilty of manifestly immoral conduct,* double [that of other sinners] would be her suffering [in the hereafter]: for that is indeed easy for God.
Verily, as for those who [knowingly] affront God and His Apostle - God will reject* them in this world and in the life to come; and shameful suffering will He ready for them.
O our Sustainer! Give them double suffering, and banish them utterly from Thy grace!"*
whereas for those who strive against Our messages, seeking to defeat their purpose, there is grievous suffering in store as an outcome of [their] vileness.*
Does he [knowingly] attribute his own lying inventions to God - or is he a madman?" Nay, [there is no madness in this Prophet -] but they who will not believe in the life to come are [bound to lose themselves] in suffering and in a profound aberration.*
AND UNTO Solomon [We made subservient] the wind: its morning course [covered the distance of] a month's journey, and its evening course, a month's journey.* And We caused a fountain of molten copper to flow at his behest;* and [even] among the invisible beings there were some that had [been constrained] to labour for him by his Sustainer's leave* and whichever of them deviated from Our command, him would We let taste suffering through a blazing flame -:
Yet [even Solomon had to die; but] when We decreed that he should die, nothing showed them that he was dead except an earthworm that gnawed away his staff.* And when he fell to the ground, those invisible beings [subservient to him] saw clearly that, had they but understood the reality which was beyond the reach of their perception,* they would not have continued [to toil] in the shameful suffering [of servitude]*
But those who had been weak will say unto those who had gloried in their arrogance: Nay, [what kept us away was your] devising of false arguments, night and day, [against God's messages- as you did]* when you persuaded us to blaspheme against God and to claim that there are powers that could rival Him!"* And when they see the suffering [that awaits them], they will [all] be unable to express [the full depth of] their remorse:* for We shall have put shackles around the necks of those who had been bent on denying the truth:* [and] will this be aught but a [just] requital for what they were doing?
whereas all who strive against Our messages, seeking to defeat their purpose, shall be given over to suffering.
And [on that Day God will say]: None of you [created beings] has today any power to benefit or to harm another!" And [then] We shall say unto those who had been bent on evildoing: Taste [now] that suffering through fire which you were wont to call a lie!"
Say: I counsel you one thing only: Be [ever conscious of] standing before God, whether you are in the company of others or alone;* and then bethink yourselves [that] there is no madness in [this prophet,] your fellow-man:* he is only a warner to you of suffering severe to come."
[seeing that] for those who are bent on denying the truth there is suffering severe in store, just as for those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds there is forgiveness of sins, and a great reward.
He who desires might and glory [ought to know that] all might and glory belong to God [alone]. Unto Him ascend all good words, and the righteous deed does He exalt. But as for those who cunningly devise evil deeds - suffering severe awaits them; and all their devising is bound to come to nought.*
But as for those who are bent on denying the truth - the fire of hell awaits them: no end shall be put to their lives so that they could die, nor shall aught of the suffering caused by that [fire] be lightened for them: thus shall We requite all who are bereft of gratitude.
Said [the others]: Truly, we augur evil from you!* Indeed, if you desist not, we will surely stone you, and grievous suffering is bound to befall you at our hands!"
cast out [from all grace], with lasting suffering in store for them [in the life to come];
And, verily, on that Day they all will share in their common suffering.
Behold, you will indeed taste grievous suffering [in the life to come],
Do they, then, [really] wish that Our chastisement be hastened on?*
What! Upon him alone from among all of us should a [divine] reminder have been bestowed from on high?" Nay, but it is My Own reminder that they distrust!* Nay, they have not yet tasted the suffering which I do impose!*
[And We said:] O David! Behold, We have made thee a [prophet and, thus, Our] vicegerent on earth: judge, then, between men with justice, and do not follow vain desire, lest it lead thee astray from the path of God: verily, for those who go astray from the path of God there is suffering severe in store for having forgotten the Day of Reckoning!"
AND CALL to mind Our servant Job,* [how it was] when he cried out to his Sustainer, Behold, Satan has afflicted me with [utter] weariness and suffering!"*
[And] they will pray: O our Sustainer! Whoever has prepared this for us, double Thou his suffering in the fire!"*
Say: Behold, I would dread, were I to rebel against my Sustainer, the suffering [which would befall me] on that awesome Day [of Judgment]."
On the other hand,* could one on whom [God's] sentence of suffering has been passed [be rescued by man]? Couldst thou, perchance, save one who is [already, as it were,] in the fire?*
Could, then, one who shall have nothing but is [bare] face to protect him from the awful suffering [that will befall him] on Resurrection Day [be likened to the God-conscious]?* [On that Day,] the evildoers will be told: Taste [now] what you have earned [in life]!"
Those who lived before them did [too] give the lie to the truth - whereupon suffering befell them without their having perceived whence it came:
and thus God let them taste ignominy [even] in the life of this world.* Yet [how] much greater will be the [sinners'] suffering in the life to come - if they [who now deny the truth] but knew it!
who it is that shall be visited [in this world] by suffering which will cover him with ignominy, and upon whom long-lasting suffering shall alight [in the life to come]!"*
But if those who are bent on evildoing possessed all that is on earth, and twice as much,* they would surely offer it as ransom from the awful suffering [that will befall them] on the Day of Resurrection:* for, something with which they had not reckoned before will [by then] have been made obvious to them by God;*
Hence, turn towards your Sustainer [alone] and surrender yourselves unto Him ere the suffering [of death and resurrection] comes upon you, for then you will not be succoured.*
And ere that suffering comes upon you of a sudden, without your being aware [of its approach], follow the most goodly [teaching] that has been revealed unto you by your Sustainer,
or lest he should say, when he becomes aware of the suffering [that awaits him], Would that I had a second chance [in life], so that I could be among the doers of good!"*
And those who were bent on denying the truth will be urged on in throngs towards hell till, when they reach it, its gates will be opened, and its keepers will ask them, Have there not come to you apostles from among yourselves, who conveyed to you your Sustainer's messages and warned you of the coming of this your Day [of Judgment]? "They will answer: Yea, indeed!" But the sentence of suffering will [already] have fallen due upon the deniers of the truth;*
THEY WHO BEAR [within themselves the knowledge of] the throne of [God's] almightiness, as well as all who are near it,* extol their Sustainer's limitless glory and praise, and have faith in Him, and ask forgiveness for all [others] who have attained to faith: O our Sustainer! Thou embracest all things within [Thy] grace and knowledge: forgive, then, their sins unto those who repent and follow Thy path, and preserve them from suffering through the blazing fire!
And God preserved him from the evil of their scheming, whereas suffering vile was to encompass Pharaoh's folk:
the fire [of the hereafter - that fire] which they had been made to contemplate [in vain], morning and evening:* for on the Day when the Last Hour dawns [God will say], Make Pharaoh's folk enter upon suffering most severe!"
And they who are in the fire will say to the keepers of hell,* Pray unto your Sustainer that He lighten, [though it be] for one day [only], this suffering of ours!"
and thereupon We let loose upon them a storm wind raging through days of misfortune,* so as to give them, in the life of this world, a foretaste of suffering through humiliation: but [their] suffering in the life to come will be far more humiliating, and they will have none to succour them.
And as for [the tribe of] Thamud, We offered them guidance, but they chose blindness in preference to guidance: and so the thunderbolt of shameful suffering fell upon them as an outcome of all [the evil] that they had wrought;
But We shall most certainly give those who are [thus] bent on denying the truth a taste of suffering severe, and We shall most certainly requite them according to the worst of their deeds!
Yet whenever We let him taste some of Our grace after hardship has visited him, he is sure to say, This is but my due!" - and, I do not think that the Last Hour will ever come:* but if [it should come, and] I should indeed be brought back unto my Sustainer, then, behold, the ultimate good awaits me with Him!* But [on the Day of Judgment] We shall most certainly give those who were bent on denying the truth* full understanding of all that they ever did, and shall most certainly give them [thereby] a taste of suffering severe.*
And as for those who would [still] argue about God* after He has been acknowledged [by them] all their arguments are null and void in their Sustainer's sight, and upon them will fall [His] condemnation, and for them is suffering severe in store:
Is it that they [who care for no more than this world] believe in forces supposed to have a share in God's divinity,* which enjoin upon them as a moral law something that God has never allowed?* Now were it not for [God's] decree on the final judgment,* all would indeed have been decided between them [in this world]:* but, verily, grievous suffering awaits the evildoers [in the life to come].
and responds unto all who attain to faith and do righteous deeds; and [it is He who, in the life to come,] will give them, out of His bounty, far more [than they will have deserved], whereas for the deniers of the truth there is [but] suffering severe in store.
blame attaches but to those who oppress [other] people and behave outrageously on earth, offending against all right: for them there is grievous suffering in store!
AND [thus it is:] he whom God lets go astray* has henceforth no protector whatever: and so thou wilt see such evildoers* [on Judgment Day, and wilt hear how] they exclaim as soon as they behold the suffering [that awaits them], "Is there any way of return?"*
And thou wilt see them exposed to that [doom], humbling themselves in abasement, looking [around] with a furtive glance - the while those who had attained to faith will say, "Verily, lost on [this] Day of Resurrection are they who have squandered their own and their followers' selves!"* Oh, verily, the evildoers will fall into long-lasting suffering,
On that Day it will not profit you in the least [to know] that, since you have sinned [together], you are now to share your suffering [as well].*
although each sign that We showed them was weightier than the preceding one: and [each time] We took them to task through suffering, so that they might return [to Us].*
But whenever We removed the suffering from them, lo! they would break their word.
But factions from among those [who came after Jesus] began to hold divergent views:* woe, then, unto those who are bent on evildoing - [woe] for the suffering [that will befall them] on a grievous Day!
[But,] behold, they who are lost in sin shall abide in the suffering of hell:*
enveloping all mankind, [and causing the sinners to exclaim:] Grievous is this suffering!
O our Sustainer, relieve us of suffering, for, verily, we [now] believe [in Thee]!"
[Still,] behold, We shall postpone this suffering for a little while,* although you are bound to revert [to your evil ways: but]
And, indeed, We delivered the children of Israel from the shameful suffering
then pour over his head the anguish of burning despair!
and neither shall they taste death there after having passed through their erstwhile death.* Thus will He have preserved them from all suffering through the blazing fire-
who hears God's messages when they are conveyed to him, and yet, as though he had not heard them, persists in his haughty disdain! Hence, announce unto him grievous suffering
for when he does become aware of any of Our messages, he makes them a target of his mockery! For all such there is shameful suffering in store.
Hell is ahead of them; and all that they may have gained [in this world] shall be of no avail whatever to them, and neither shall any of those things which, instead of God, they have come to regard as their protectors:* for, awesome suffering awaits them.
[To pay heed to God's signs and messages:] this is [the meaning of] guidance; on the other hand,* for those who are bent on denying the truth of their Sustainer's messages there is grievous suffering in store as an outcome of [their] vileness.*
And on the Day when those who were bent on denying the truth will be brought within sight of the fire, [they will be told:] You have exhausted your [share of] good things in your worldly life, having enjoyed them [without any thought of the hereafter]: and so today you shall be requited with the suffering of humiliation for having gloried on earth in your arrogance,* offending against all that is right, and for all your iniquitous doings!"
AND REMEMBER that brother of [the tribe of] Ad,* how - seeing that [other] warnings had already come and gone within his own knowledge as well as in times beyond his ken -* he warned his people [who lived] among those sand-dunes: Worship none but God! Verily, I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome day!"
And so, when they beheld it* in the shape of a dense cloud approaching their valleys, they exclaimed, This is but a heavy cloud which will bring us [welcome] rain!" [But Hud said:] Nay, but it is the very thing which you [so contemptuously] sought to hasten - a wind bearing grievous suffering,
O our people! Respond to God's call, and have faith in Him: He will forgive you [whatever is past] of your sins, and deliver you from grievous suffering [in the life to come].
And so, on the Day when those who were bent on denying the truth will be brought within sight of the fire [and will be asked], Is not this the truth?" - they will answer, Yea, by Our Sustainer!" [And] He will say: Taste, then, this suffering as an outcome of your denial of the truth!"
Say unto those bedouin who stayed behind: In time you will be called upon [to fight] against people of great prowess in war:* you will have to fight against them [until you die] or they surrender. And then, if you heed [that call], God will bestow on you a goodly reward; but if you turn away as you turned away this time,* He will chastise you with grievous chastisement."
No blame attaches to the blind, nor does blame attach to the lame, nor does blame attach to the sick [for staying away from a war in God's cause];* but whoever heeds [the call of] God and His Apostle [in deed or in heart],* him will He admit into gardens through which running waters flow; whereas him who turns away will He chastise with grievous chastisement.
[It was not for your enemies sake that He stayed your hands from them: for]* it was they who were bent on denying the truth, and who debarred you from the Inviolable House of Worship* and prevented your offering from reaching its destination.* And had it not been for the believing men and believing women [in Mecca ], whom you might have unwittingly trampled underfoot,* and on whose account you might have become guilty, without knowing it, of a grievous wrong-: [had it not been for this, you would have been allowed to fight your way into the city: but you were forbidden to fight]* so that [in time] God might admit to His grace whomever He wills.* Had they [who deserve Our mercy and they whom We have condemned] been clearly discernible [to you],* We would indeed have imposed grievous suffering [at your hands] on such of them as were bent on denying the truth.
who has set up another deity beside God:* cast him, then, cast him into suffering severe!"
And so We left therein* a message for those who fear the grievous suffering [which awaits all evildoers].
VERILY, [O man,] the suffering decreed by thy Sustainer [for the sinners] will indeed come to pass:
rejoicing in all that their Sustainer will have granted them: for their Sustainer will have warded off from them all suffering through the blazing fire.
and so God has graced us with His favour, and has warded off from us all suffering through the scorching winds [of frustration].
But, verily, for those who are bent on doing evil, there is suffering in store [even] closer at hand than that [supreme suffering in the hereafter]: but most of them are not aware of it.*
And how severe is the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded!*
TO THE TRUTH gave the lie [the tribe of] Ad: and how severe was the suffering which I inflicted when My warnings were disregarded!
for, how severe is the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded!
and how severe was the suffering which I inflicted when My warnings were disregarded!
and even demanded that he give up his guests [to them]:* whereupon We deprived them of their sight [and thus told them, as it were]:* Taste, then, the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded!"
And, indeed, abiding suffering did befall them early on the morrow:
Taste, then, the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded!"
On that Day shall the hypocrites, both men and women,* speak [thus] unto those who have attained to faith: Wait for us! Let us have a [ray of] light from your light!" [But] they will be told: Turn back, and seek a light [of your own]!"* And thereupon a wall will be raised between them [and the believers], with a gate in it: within it will be grace and mercy, and against the outside thereof, suffering.*
KNOW [O men] that the life of this world is but a play and a passing delight, and a beautiful show, and [the cause of] your boastful vying with one another, and [of your] greed for more and more riches and children.* Its parable is that of* [life-giving] rain: the herbage which it causes to grow delights the tillers of the soil;* but then it withers, and thou canst see it turn yellow; and in the end it crumbles into dust. But [the abiding truth of man's condition will become fully apparent] in the life to come: [either] suffering severe, or* God's forgiveness and His goodly acceptance: for the life of this world is nothing but an enjoyment of self-delusion.
However, he who does not have the wherewithal shall fast [instead] for two consecutive months* before the couple may touch one another again; and he who is unable to do it shall feed sixty needy ones:* this, so that you might prove your faith in God and His Apostle.* Now these are the bounds set by God; and grievous suffering [in the life to come] awaits all who deny the truth.
Verily, those who contend against God and His Apostle shall be brought low even as those [evildoers] who lived before them were brought low after We had bestowed [on them] clear messages from on high.* And [so,] for those who deny the truth there will be shameful suffering in store
God has readied for them suffering severe [in the life to come]. Behold, evil indeed is what they are wont to do:
they have made their oaths a cover [for their falseness], and thus they turn others away from the path of God:* hence, shameful suffering awaits them.
And had it not been for God's having ordained banishment for them, He would indeed have imposed [yet greater] suffering on them in this world: still, in the life to come there awaits them suffering through fire:
[To both kinds of your enemies, O believers, is bound to happen]* the like of [what happened to] those who, a short while before them, had to taste the evil that came from their own doings,* with [yet more] grievous suffering awaiting them [in the life to come]:
O YOU who have attained to faith! Shall I point out to you a bargain that will save you from grievous suffering [in this world and in the life to come]?*
HAVE THE STORIES of those who, in earlier times, refused to acknowledge the truth never yet come within your ken? [They denied it -] and so they had to taste the evil outcome of their own doings,* with [more] grievous suffering awaiting them [in the life to come]:
AND HOW MANY a community has turned with disdain from the commandment of its Sustainer and His apostles!* -whereupon We callled them all to account with an accounting severe, and caused them to suffer with a suffering unnameable:
[the while] God has readied for them [yet more] suffering severe [in the life to come] Hence, remain conscious of God, O you who are endowed with insight - [you] who have attained to faith! God has indeed bestowed on you a reminder from on high:
And, indeed, We have adorned the skies nearest to the earth with lights,* and have made them the object of futile guesses for the evil ones [from among men]:* and for them have We readied suffering through a blazing flame
for, suffering in hell awaits all who are [thus] bent on blaspheming against their Sustainer:* and how vile a journey's end!
SAY [O Prophet]: "What do you think? Whether God destroys me and those who follow me, or graces us with His mercy* - is there anyone that could protect [you] deniers of the truth from grievous suffering [in the life to come]?"
SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world];* but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it!
ONE who is minded to ask might ask* about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall
though they may be in one another's sight: [for,] everyone who was lost in sin will on that Day but desire to ransom himself from suffering at the price of his own children,
and who stand in dread of their Sustainer's chastisement
for, behold, of their Sustainer's chastisement none may ever feel [wholly] secure;*
BEHOLD. We sent Noah unto his people. [saying:] "Warn thy people ere grievous suffering befall them!
so as to test them by this means: for he who shall turn away from the remembrance of his Sustainer, him will He cause to undergo suffering most grievous.*
and food that chokes, and grievous suffering*
He admits unto His grace everyone who wills [to be admitted];* but as for the evildoers - for them has He readied grievous suffering [in the life to come].
[And so We shall say:] "Taste, then, [the fruit of your evil doings,] for now We shall bestow on you nothing but more and more suffering!"*
Verily, We have warned you of suffering near at hand - [suffering] on the Day when man shall [clearly] see what his hands have sent ahead, and when he who has denied the truth shall say, "Oh, would that I were mere dust... !"*
Hence, give them the tiding of grievous suffering [in the life to come]
Verily, as for those who persecute believing men and believing women, and thereafter do not repent, hell's suffering awaits them: yea, suffering through fire awaits them!*
him will God cause to suffer the greatest suffering [in the life to come]:
and therefore thy Sustainer let loose upon them a scourge of suffering:
For, none can make suffer as He will make suffer [the sinners] on that Day,
