Whenever there comes unto them any new re­minder from their Sustainer, they but listen to it with playful amusement,*

[But We have not willed it:] and so, whenever there comes unto them any fresh reminder from the Most Gracious, they [who are blind of heart] always - turn their backs upon it:

For, when they meet those who have attained to faith. they say, "We believe [as you believe]" - but when they find themselves alone with one another, they say. "Do you inform them of what God has disclosed to you, so that they might use it in argument against you, quoting the words of your Sustainer?* Will you not. then, use your reason?"

and of thy Sustainer's blessings shalt thou [ever] speak.*

on that Day will she recount all her tidings,

Said [the sage]: "Well, then, if thou art to follow me, do not question me about aught [that I may do] until I myself give thee an account thereof."

AND THUS* have We bestowed from on high this [divine writ] as a discourse in the Arabic tongue,* and have given therein many facets to all manner of warnings, so that men might remain conscious of Us, or that it give rise to a new awareness in them*

O PROPHET! When you* [intend to divorce women, divorce them with a view to the waiting period appointed for them,* and reckon the period [carefully], and be conscious of God, your Sustainer. Do not expel them from their homes;* and neither shall they [be made to] leave* unless they become openly guilty of immoral conduct.* These, then, are the bounds set by God - and he who transgresses the bounds set by God does indeed sin against himself: [for, O man, although] thou knowest it not, after that [first breach] God may well cause something new to come about.*

Those who were bent on denying the truth and paid no heed to the Apostle will on that Day wish that the earth would swallow them:* but they shall not [be able to] conceal from God anything that has happened.

Wherever you may be, death will overtake you - even though you be in towers raised high. "Yet, when a good thing happens to them, some [people] say, "This is from God," whereas when evil befalls them, they say, "This is from thee [O fellow­man]!"* Say: "All is from God." What, then, is amiss with these people that they are in no wise near to grasping the truth of what they are told?*

God - save whom there is no deity - will surely gather you all together on the Day of Resurrection, [the coming of] which is beyond all doubt: and whose word could be truer than God's?

And, indeed, He has enjoined upon you in this divine writ that whenever you hear people deny the truth of God's messages and mock at them, you shall avoid their company until they begin to talk of other things* - or else, verily, you will become like them. Behold, together with those who deny the truth God will gather in hell the hypocrites,

NOW, whenever thou meet such as indulge in [blasphemous] talk about Our messages, turn thy back upon them until they begin to talk of other things* and if Satan should ever cause thee to forget [thyself], remain not, after recollection, in the company of such evildoing folk,

Have they, then, never considered [God's] mighty dominion over the heavens and the earth, and all the things that God has created, and [asked themselves] whether, perchance, the end of their own term might already have drawn nigh? In what other tiding, then, will they, after this, believe?*

For, [as thou hast been shown in thy dream,] even thus will thy Sustainer elect thee, and will impart unto thee some understanding of the inner meaning of happenings,* and will bestow the full measure of His blessings upon thee and upon the House of Jacob -even as, aforetime, He bestowed it in full measure upon thy forefathers Abraham and Isaac. Verily, thy Sustainer is all-knowing, wise!"

And the man from Egypt who bought him* said to his wife: "Make his stay [with us] honourable; he may well be of use to us, or we may adopt him as a son. And thus We gave unto Joseph a firm place on earth; and [We did this] so that We might impart unto him some understanding of the inner meaning of happenings.* For, God always prevails in whatever be His purpose: but most people know it not.

"O my Sustainer! Thou hast indeed bestowed upon me something of power,* and hast imparted unto me some knowledge of the inner meaning of happenings.* Originator of the heavens and the earth! Thou art near unto me in this world and in the life to come: let me die as one who has surrendered himself unto Thee, and make me one with the righteous!"

Indeed, in the stories of these men* there is a lesson for those who are endowed with insight. [As for this revelation,* ] it could not possibly be a discourse invented [by man]: nay indeed,* it is [a divine writ] confirming the truth of whatever there still remains [of earlier revelations], clearly spelling out everything,* and [offering] guidance and grace unto people who will believe.

But wouldst thou, perhaps,* torment thyself to death with grief over them if they are not willing to believe in this message?*

AND HAS the story of Moses ever come within thy ken?*

And We sent forth Our apostles, one after another: [and] every time their apostle came to a community, they gave him the lie: and so We caused them to follow one another [into the grave], and let them become [mere] tales: and so - away with the folk who would not believe!

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.

O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not enter the Prophet's dwellings unless you are given leave; [and when invited] to a meal, do not come [so early as] to wait for it to be readied: but whenever you are invited, enter [at the proper time]; and when you have partaken of the meal, disperse without lingering for the sake of mere talk: that, behold, might give offence to the Prophet, and yet he might feel shy of [asking] you [to leave]: but God is not shy of [teaching you] what is right.* And [as for the Prophet's wives,] whenever you ask them for anything that you need, ask them from behind a screen:* this will but deepen the purity of your hearts and theirs. Moreover, it does not behove you to give offence to God's Apostle - just as it would not behove you ever to marry his widows after he has passed away:* that, verily, would be an enormity in the sight of God.

But now they would say, “Long has our Sus­tainer made the distance between our journey- stages!" - for they had sinned against themselves.* And in the end We caused them to become [one of those] tales [of things long past], and scattered them in countless fragments.* Herein, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are wholly patient in adversity and deeply grate­ful [to God].

God bestows from on high* the best of all teachings in the shape of a divine writ fully consistent within itself, repeating each statement [of the truth] in manifold forms* [a divine writ] whereat shiver the skins of all who of their Sustainer stand in awe: [but] in the end their skins and their hearts do soften at the remembrance of [the grace of] God. Such is God's guidance: He guides therewith him that wills [to be guided]* whereas he whom God lets go astray can never find any guide*

These messages of God do We convey unto thee, setting forth the truth. In what other tiding, if not in God's messages, will they, then, believe?*

AND HAS the story of Abraham's honoured guests ever come within thy ken?*

But then, [if they deem it the work of a mere mortal,] let them produce another discourse like it - if what they say be true!

Do you, perchance, find this tiding strange?

Would you, now, look down with disdain on a tiding like this,*

And lo!* [It so happened that] the Prophet told something in confidence to one of his wives; and when she thereupon divulged it, and God made this known to him, he acquainted [others] with some of it and passed over some of it.* And as soon as he let her know it, she asked, "Who has told thee this?"* - [to which] he replied, "The All-Knowing, the All-Aware has told me."

Hence, leave Me alone with such as give the lie to this tiding.* We shall bring them low, step by step, without their perceiving how it has come about:*

In what other tiding, then, will they, after this, believe?

HAS THE STORY of Moses ever come within thy ken.*

HAS IT ever come within thy ken, the story of the [sinful] hosts

HAS THERE COME unto thee the tiding of the Overshadowing Event?'*