for, behold, If Thou dost leave them, they will [always try to] lead astray those who worship Thee, and will give birth to nothing but wickedness and stubborn ingratitude.*

and how it is imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of God!*

And yet, after all this, your hearts hardened and became like rocks, or even harder: for, behold, there are rocks from which streams gush forth; and, behold, there are some from which, when they are cleft, water issues; and, behold, there are some that fall down for awe of God* And God is not unmindful of what you do!

And [remember] when Moses prayed for water for his people and We replied, "Strike the rock with thy staff!"-whereupon twelve springs gushed forth from it, so that all the people knew whence to drink.* [And Moses said:] "Eat and drink the sustenance provided by God, and do not act wickedly on earth by spreading corruption."

or thou have a garden of date-palms and vines and cause rivers to gush forth in their midst in a sudden rush,*

a source [of bliss] whereof God's servants shall drink, seeing it flow in a flow abundant.*

and so they say: "[O Muhammad,] we shall not believe thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth,*

None the less man chooses to deny what lies ahead of him,

[For,] would We treat those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds in the same manner as [We shall treat] those who spread corruption on earth? Would We treat the God-conscious in the same manner as the wicked?*

these, these will be the ones who denied the truth and were immersed in iniquity!

whereas, behold, the wicked will indeed be in a blazing fire –

NAY, VERILY, the record of the wicked is indeed [set down] in a mode inescapable!*

IT IS lawful for you to go in unto your wives during the night preceding the [day's] fast: they are as a garment for you, and you are as a garment for them. God is aware that you would have deprived yourselves of this right,* and so He has turned unto you in His mercy and removed this hardship from you. Now, then, you may lie with them skin to skin, and avail yourselves of that which God has ordained for you,* and eat and drink until you can discern the white streak of dawn against the blackness of night,* and then resume fasting until nightfall; but do not lie with them skin to skin when you are about to abide in meditation in houses of worship.* These are the bounds set by God: do not, then, offend against them - [for] it is thus that God makes clear His messages unto mankind, so that they might remain conscious of Him.

BE CONSTANT in [thy] prayer from the time when the sun has passed its zenith till the darkness of night, and [be ever mindful of its] recitation at dawn:* for, behold, the recitation [of prayer] at dawn is indeed witnessed [by all that is holy].*

O YOU who have attained to faith!* At three times [of day], let [even] those whom you rightfully pos­sess,* as well as those from among you who have not yet attained to puberty,* ask leave of you [before intruding upon your privacy]: before the prayer of daybreak, and whenever you lay aside your garments in the middle of the day, and after the prayer of nightfall:* the three occasions on which your nakedness is likely to be bared.* Beyond these [occasions], neither you nor they will incur any sin if they move [freely] about you, attending to [the needs of] one another. In this way God makes clear unto you His mes­sages: for God is all-knowing, wise!

CONSIDER the daybreak

does it make secure,* until the rise of dawn.

or thou have a garden of date-palms and vines and cause rivers to gush forth in their midst in a sudden rush,*

Each of the two gardens yielded its produce and never failed therein in any way, for We had caused a stream to gush forth in the midst of each of them.

and [how] We make gardens of date-palms and vines [grow] thereon, and cause springs to gush [forth] within it,

and caused the earth to burst forth with springs, so that the waters met for a purpose pre-ordained:

a source [of bliss] whereof God's servants shall drink, seeing it flow in a flow abundant.*

and when the seas burst beyond their bounds,