Dictionaries

  • Ejtaal Arabic Almanac: Lane's Lexicon, Hans Wehr, Lisan al-Arab and others
  • Perseus: Lane's Lexicon (in text format)
The root jEl (ج ع ل) occurs 346 times in Quran, in 2 derived forms:
  • 6 times as active noun jaAl
  • 340 times as verb jAl

jaAl

1

AND LO!* Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: "Behold, I am about to establish upon earth one who shall inherit it."* They said: "Wilt Thou place on it such as will spread corruption thereon and shed blood -whereas it is we who extol Thy limitless glory, and praise Thee, and hallow Thy name?" [God] answered: "Verily, I know that which you do not know."
And [remember this:] when his Sustainer tried Abraham by [His] commandments and the latter fulfilled them,* He said: "Behold, I shall make thee a leader of men. "Abraham asked: "And [wilt Thou make leaders] of my offspring as well? "[God] answered: "My covenant does not embrace the evildoers."*
Lo! God said: "O Jesus! Verily, I shall cause thee to die, and shall exalt thee unto Me, and cleanse thee of [the presence of] those who are bent on denying the truth; and I shall place those who follow thee [far] above those who are bent on denying the truth, unto the Day of Resurrection. In the end, unto Me you all must return, and I shall judge between you with regard to all on which you were wont to differ.*
and, verily, [in time] We shall reduce all that is on it to barren dust!
And so, [when he was born,] We inspired [thus] the mother of Moses: Suckle him [for a time], and then, when thou hast cause to fear for him, cast him into the river,* and have no fear and do not grieve - for We shall restore him to thee, and shall make him one of Our message-bearers!"
ALL PRAISE is due to God, Originator of the heavens and the earth, who causes the angels to be (His) message-bearers, endowed with wings, two, or three, or four.* [Unceasingly] He adds to His creation whatever He wills: for, verily, God has the power to will anything.*
Or [the parable] of a violent cloudburst in the sky, with utter darkness, thunder and lightning: they put their fingers into their ears to keep out the peals of thunder, in terror of death; but God encompasses [with His might] all who deny the truth.
who has made the earth a resting-place for you and the sky a canopy, and has sent down water from the sky and thereby brought forth fruits for your sustenance: do not, then, claim that there is any power that could rival God,* when you know [that He is One].
AND LO!* Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: "Behold, I am about to establish upon earth one who shall inherit it."* They said: "Wilt Thou place on it such as will spread corruption thereon and shed blood -whereas it is we who extol Thy limitless glory, and praise Thee, and hallow Thy name?" [God] answered: "Verily, I know that which you do not know."
and set them up as a warning example for their time and for all times to come, as well as an admonition to all who are conscious of God.*
AND LO! We made the Temple a goal to which people might repair again and again, and a sanctuary:* take then, the place whereon Abraham once stood as your place of prayer."* And thus did We command Abraham and Ishmael: "Purify My Temple for those who will walk around it,* and those who will abide near it in meditation, and those who will bow down and prostrate themselves [in prayer]."
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!"
"O our Sustainer! Make us surrender ourselves unto Thee, and make out of our offspring* a community that shall surrender itself unto Thee, and show us our ways of worship, and accept our repentance: for, verily, Thou alone art the Acceptor of Repentance, the Dispenser of Grace!
And thus have We willed you to be a community of the middle way,* so that [with your lives] you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind, and that the Apostle might bear witness to it before you.* And it is only to the end that We might make a clear distinction between those who follow the Apostle and those who turn about on their heels that We have appointed [for this community] the direction of prayer which thou [O Prophet] hast formerly observed: for this was indeed a hard test for all but those whom God has guided aright.* But God will surely not lose sight of your faith-for, behold, God is most compassionate towards man, a dispenser of grace.
AND DO NOT allow your oaths in the name of God to become an obstacle to virtue and God-consciousness and the promotion of peace between men:* for God is all-hearing, all-knowing.
Or [art thou, O man, of the same mind] as he* who passed by a town deserted by its people, with its roofs caved in, [and] said, "How could God bring all this back to life after its death?"* Thereupon God caused him to be dead for a hundred years; where after He brought him back to life [and] said: "How long hast thou remained thus?" He answered: "I have remained thus a day, or part of a day." Said [God]: "Nay, but thou hast remained thus for a hundred years! But look at thy food and thy drink-untouched is it by the passing of years - and look at thine ass!* And [We did all this so that We might make thee a symbol unto men. And look at the bones [of animals and men] - how We put them together and then clothe them with flesh!"* And when [all this] became clear to him, he said: "I know [now] that God has the power to will anything!"
And, lo, Abraham said: "O my Sustainer! Show me how Thou givest life unto the dead!" Said He: "Hast thou, then, no faith?" (Abraham) answered: "Yea, but [let me see it] so that my heart may be set fully at rest." Said He: "Take, then, four birds and teach them to obey thee;* . then place them separately on every hill [around thee]; then summon them: they will come flying to thee. And know that God is almighty, wise."*
[Zachariah] prayed: "O my Sustainer! Appoint a sign for me!" Said [the angel]: "Thy sign shall be that for three days thou wilt not speak unto men other than by gestures.* And remember thy Sustainer unceasingly, and extol His limitless glory by night and by day."
And if anyone should argue with thee about this [truth] after all the knowledge that has come unto thee, say: "Come! Let us summon our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves; and then let us pray [together] humbly and ardently, and let us invoke God's curse upon those [of us] who are telling a lie."*
And God ordained this [to be said by His Apostle* ] only as a glad tiding for you, and that your hearts should thereby be set at rest - since no succour can come from any save God, the Almighty, the Truly Wise -
O you who have attained to faith! Be not like those who are bent on denying the truth and say of their brethren [who die] after having set out on a journey to faraway places* or gone forth to war, "Had they but remained with us, they would not have died," or, "they would not have been slain" - for God will cause such thoughts to become* a source of bitter regret in their hearts, since it is God who grants life and deals death. And God sees all that you do.
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.
And do not entrust to those who are weak of judgment the possessions which God has placed in your charge* for [their] support; but let them have their sustenance therefrom, and clothe them, and speak unto them in a kindly way.
AND AS FOR those of your women who become guilty of immoral conduct, call upon four from among you who have witnessed their guilt; and if these bear witness thereto, confine the guilty women* to their houses until death takes them away or God opens for them a way [through repentance].
O YOU who have attained to faith! It is not lawful for you to [try to] become heirs to your wives [by holding onto them] against their will;* and neither shall you keep them under constraint with a view to taking away anything of what you may have given them, unless it be that they have become guilty, in an obvious man­ner, of immoral conduct.* And consort with your wives* in a goodly manner; for if you dislike them, it may well be that you dislike something which God might yet make a source of* abundant good.
And unto everyone have We appointed heirs to what he may leave behind: parents, and near kinsfolk, and those to whom you have pledged your troth* give them, therefore, their share. Behold, God is indeed a witness unto everything.
And how could you refuse to fight* in the cause of God and of the utterly helpless men and women and children who are crying, "O our Sustainer! Lead us forth [to freedom] out of this land whose people are oppressors, and raise for us, out of Thy grace, a protector, and raise for us, out of Thy grace, one who will bring us succour!"
unless it be such [of them] as have ties with people to whom you yourselves are bound by a covenant, or such as come unto you because their hearts shrink from [the thought of] making war either on you or on their own folk - although, if God had willed to make them stronger than you, they would certainly have made war on you.* Thus, if they let you be, and do not make war on you, and offer you peace, God does not allow you to harm them.*
You will find [that there are] others who would like to be safe from you as well as safe from their own folk, [but who,] whenever they are faced anew with temptation to evil, plunge into it headlong.* Hence, if they do not let you be, and do not offer you peace, and do not stay their hands, seize them and slay them whenever you come upon them: for it is against these that We have clearly empowered you [to make war].*
who but wait to see what betides you: thus, if triumph comes to you from God, they say, "Were we not on your side?"- whereas if those who deny the truth are in luck, they say [to them], "Have we not earned your affection by defending you against those be­lievers?''* But God will judge between you all on the Day of Resurrection; and never will God allow those who deny the truth to harm the believers.*
O you who have attained to faith! Do not take the deniers of the truth for your allies in preference to the believers! Do you want to place before God a manifest proof of your guilt?*
O YOU who have attained to faith! When you are about to pray, wash your face, and your hands and arms up to the elbows, and pass your [wet] hands lightly over your head, and [wash] your feet up to the ankles. And if you are in a state. requiring total ablution, purify yourselves.* But if you are ill, or are travelling, or have just satisfied a want of nature, or have cohabited with a woman, and can find no water-then take resort to pure dust, passing therewith lightly over your face and your hands. God does not want to impose any hardship on you, but wants to make you pure, and to bestow upon you the full measure of His blessings, so that you might have cause to be grateful.
Then, for having broken their solemn pledge,* We rejected them and caused their hearts to harden-[so that now] they distort the meaning of the [re-vealed] words, taking them out of their context;* and they have forgotten much of what they had been told to bear in mind; and from all but a few of them thou wilt always experience treachery. But pardon them, and forbear: verily, God loves the doers of good.
AND, LO, Moses said unto his people:"* O my people! Remember the blessings which God bestowed upon you when he raised up prophets among you, and made you your own masters,* and granted unto you [favours] such as He had not granted to anyone else in the world.
And unto thee [O Prophet] have We vouchsafed this divine writ, setting forth the truth, confirming the truth of whatever there still remains of earlier revelations and determining what is true therein.* Judge, then, between the followers of earlier revelation in accordance with what God has bestowed from on high,* and do not follow their errant views, forsaking the truth that has come unto thee. Unto every one of you have We appointed a [different] law and way of life.* And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto, you.* Vie, then, with one another in doing good works! Unto God you all must return; and then He will make you truly understand all that on which you were wont to differ.*
Say: "Shall I tell you who, in the sight of God, deserves a yet worse retribution than these? They whom God has rejected and whom He has condemned, and whom He has turned into apes and swine because they worshipped the powers of evil:* these are yet worse in station, and farther astray from the right path [than the mockers]."*
God has laid down that the Ka'bah, the Inviolable Temple, shall be a symbol for all mankind;* and [so, too,J the sacred month [of pilgrimage] and the garlanded offerings [are symbols] meant to make you aware* that God is aware of all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth, and that God has full knowledge of everything.
IT IS NOT of God's ordaining that certain kinds of cattle should be marked out by superstition and set aside from the use of man;* yet those who are bent on denying the truth attribute their own lying inventions to God. And most of them never use their reason:
ALL PRAISE is due to God, who has created the heavens and the earth, and brought into being deep darkness as well as light:* and yet, those who are bent on denying the truth regard other powers as their Sustainer's equals!
Do they not see how many a generation We have destroyed before their time - [people] whom We had given a [bountiful] place on earth, the like of which We never gave unto you, and upon whom We showered heavenly blessings abundant, and at whose feet We made running waters flow? And yet we destroyed them for their sins, and gave rise to other people in their stead.*
And (even] if We had appointed an angel as Our message-bearer,* We would certainly have made him [appear as] a man - and thus We would only have confused them in the same way as they are now confusing themselves.*
And there are among them such as [seem to] listen to thee [O Prophet]: but over their hearts We have laid veils which prevent them from grasping the truth, and into their ears, deafness.* And were they to see every sign [of the truth], they would still not believe in it-so much so that when they come unto thee to contend with thee, those who are bent on denying the truth say, "This is nothing but fables of ancient times!"
And they who give the lie to Our messages are deaf and dumb, in darkness deep. Whomever God wills, He lets go astray; and whomever He wills, He places upon a straight way.*
For, no true understanding of God have they when they say, "Never has God revealed anything unto man." Say: "Who has bestowed from on high the divine writ which Moses brought unto men as a light and a guidance, [and] which you treat as* [mere] leaves of paper, making a show of them the while you conceal [so] much - although you have been taught [by it] what neither you nor your forefathers had ever known?"* Say: "God [has revealed that divine writ]!" - and then leave them to play at their vain talk.
[He is] the One who causes the dawn to break; and He has made the night to be [a source of] stillness, and the sun and the moon to run their appointed courses:* [all] this is laid down by the will of the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
And He it is who has set up for you the stars so that you might be guided by them in the midst of the deep darkness of land and sea: clearly, indeed, have We spelled out these messages unto people of [innate] knowledge!
And yet, some [people] have come to attribute to all manner of invisible beings* a place side by side with God - although it is He who has created them [all]; and in their ignorance they have invented for Him sons and daughters!* Limitless is He is His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything that men may devise by way of definition:*
Yet if God had so willed, they would not have ascribed divinity to aught beside Him;* hence, We have not made thee their keeper, and neither art thou responsible for their conduct.
AND THUS it is that against every prophet We have set up as enemies the evil forces from among humans as well as from among invisible beings that whisper unto one another glittering half-truths meant to delude the mind* But they could not do this unless thy Sustainer had so willed: stand, therefore, aloof from them and from all their false imagery!
IS THEN -HE who was dead [in spirit] and whom We thereupon gave life, and for whom We set up a light whereby he might see his way among men* - [is then he] like one [who is lost] in darkness deep, out of which he cannot emerge? [But] thus it is: goodly seem all their own doings to those who deny the truth.
And it is in this way that We cause the great ones in every land to become its [greatest] evildoers,* there to weave their schemes: yet it is only against themselves that they scheme -and they perceive it not.
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.
And whomsoever God wills to guide, his bosom He opens wide with willingness towards self-surrender [unto Him]; and whomsoever He wills to let go astray, his bosom He causes to be tight and constricted, as if he were climbing unto the skies: it is thus that God inflicts horror upon those who will not believe.
AND OUT OF whatever He has created of the fruits of the field and the cattle, they assign unto God a portion, saying, "This belongs to God"-or so they [falsely] claim* - "and this is for those beings who, we are convinced, have a share in God's divinity."* But that which is assigned to the beings associated in their minds with God does not bring [them] closer to God - whereas that which is assigned to God brings [them but] closer to those beings to whom they ascribe a share in His divinity.* Bad, indeed, is their judgment!
For, He it is who has made you inherit the earth,* and has raised some of you by degrees above others, so that He might try you by means of what He has bestowed upon you.* Verily, thy Sustainer is swift in retribution: yet, behold, He is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
YEA, INDEED, [O men,] We have given you a [bountiful] place on earth, and appointed thereon means of livelihood for you: [yet] how seldom are you grateful!
O children of Adam! Do not allow Satan to seduce you in the same way as he caused your ancestors to be driven out of the garden: he deprived them of their garment [of God-consciousness] in order to make them aware of their nakedness. Verily, he and his tribe are lying in wait for you where you cannot perceive them!* Verily, We have placed [all manner of] satanic forces near unto those who do not [truly] believe;*
And whenever their eyes are turned towards the inmates of the fire, they will cry: "O our Sustainer! Place us not among the people who have been guilty of evildoing!"
Why, do you deem it strange that a tiding from your Sustainer should have come unto you through a man from among yourselves, so that he might warn you? Do but remember how He made you heirs to Noah's people, and endowed you abundantly with power:* remember, then, God's blessings, so that you might attain to a happy state!"
"And remember how He made you heirs to [the tribe of] `Ad* and settled you firmly on earth, so that you [are able to] build for yourselves castles on its plains and hew out mountains [to serve you] as dwellings:* remember, then, God's blessings, and do not act wickedly on earth by spreading corruption."
AND WE BROUGHT the children of Israel across the sea; and thereupon they came upon people who were devoted to the worship of some idols of theirs.* Said [the children of Israel ]: "O Moses, set up for us a god even as they have gods!" He replied: "Verily, you are people without any awareness [of right and wrong]!
And when Moses came [to Mount Sinai] at the time set by Us, and his Sustainer spoke unto him, he said: "O my Sustainer! Show [Thyself] unto me, so that I might behold Thee!" Said [God]: "Never canst thou see Me. However, behold this mountain: if it remains firm in its place, then - only then - wilt thou see Me.* And as soon as his Sustainer revealed His glory to the mountain, He caused it to crumble to dust; and Moses fell down in a swoon. And when he came to himself, he said: "Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Unto Thee do I turn in repentance; and I shall [always] be the first to believe in Thee!"*
And when Moses returned to his people, full of wrath and sorrow, he exclaimed: "Vile is the course which you have followed in my absence! Have you forsaken* your Sustainer's commandment?" And he threw down the tablets [of the Law], and seized his brother's head, dragging him towards himself. Cried Aaron: "O my mother's son! Behold, the people brought me low* and almost slew me: so let not mine enemies rejoice at my affliction, and count me not among the evildoing folk!"
IT IS HE who has created you [all] out of one living entity, and out of it brought into being its mate, so that man might incline [with love] towards woman.* And so, when he has embraced her, she conceives [what at first is] a light burden, and continues to bear it. Then, when she grows heavy [with child], they both call unto God, their Sustainer, "If Thou indeed grant us a sound [child], we shall most certainly be among the grateful!"
And yet, as soon as He has granted them sound [offspring], they begin to ascribe to other powers beside Him a share in bringing about what He has granted them !* Sublimely exalted, however, is God- above anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!
And God ordained this only as a glad tiding, and that your hearts should thereby be set at rest-since no succour can come from any save God: verily, God is almighty, wise!*
O you who have attained to faith! If you remain conscious of God. He will endow you with a standard by which to discern the true from the false,* and will efface your bad deeds, and will forgive you your sins: for God is limitless in His great bounty.
so that God might separate the bad from the good, and join the bad with one another, and link them all together [within His condemnation], and then place them in hell. They, they are the lost!
Do you, perchance, regard the [mere] giving of water to pilgrims and the tending of the Inviolable House of Worship as being equal to [the works of] one who believes in God and the Last Day and strives hard in God's cause? These [things] are not equal in the sight of God.* And God does not grace with His guidance people who [deliberately] do wrong.
If you do not succour the Apostle,* then [know that God will do so -just as] God succoured him at the time when those who were bent on denying the truth drove him away, [and he was but] one of two:* when these two were [hiding] in the cave, [and] the Apostle said to his companion, "Grieve not: verily, God is with us."* And thereupon God bestowed upon him from on high His (gift of] inner peace,* and brought utterly low the cause of those who were bent on denying the truth, whereas the cause of God remained supreme:* for God is almighty, wise.
He it is who has made the sun a [source of] radiant light and the moon a light [reflected],* and has determined for it phases so that you might know how to compute the years and to measure [time]. None of this has God created without [an inner] truth.* Clearly does He spell out these messages unto people of [innate] knowledge:
And thereupon We made you their successors on earth, so that We might behold how you act.
The parable of the life of this world is but that of rain which We send down from the sky, and which is absorbed by the plants of the earth* whereof men and animals draw nourishment, until -when the earth has assumed its artful adornment and has been embellished, and they who dwell on it believe that they have gained mastery over it* -there comes down upon it Our judgment, by night or by day, and We cause it to become [like] a field mown down, as if there had been no yesterday.* Thus clearly do We spell out these messages unto people who think!
Say: "Have you ever considered all the means of sustenance which God has bestowed upon you from on high* -and which you thereupon divide into 'things forbidden' and 'things lawful?* Say: "Has God given you leave [to do this] -or do you, perchance, attribute your own guesswork to God?"
[whereas] it is He who has made the night for you, so that you might have rest therein, and the day, to make [you] see* in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who [are willing to] listen.
And yet they gave him the lie! And so We saved him and all who stood by him, in the ark, and made them inherit [the earth],* the while We caused those who gave the lie to Our messages to drown:* behold, then, what happened in the end to those people who had been warned [in vain]!
Whereupon they answered: "In God have we placed our trust! O our Sustainer, make us not a plaything* for evildoing folk,
And [thus] did We inspire Moses and his brother: "Set aside for your people some houses in the city, and [tell them], `Turn your houses into places of worship,* and be constant in prayer!' And give thou [O Moses] the glad tiding [of God's succour] to all believers."
notwithstanding that no human being can ever attain to faith otherwise than by God's leave,* and [that] it is He who lays the loathsome evil [of disbelief] upon those who will not use -their reason?*
And so, when Our judgment came to pass, We turned those [sinful towns] upside down, and rained down upon them stone-hard blows of chastisement pre-ordained.* one upon another,
And had thy Sustainer so willed, He could surely have made all mankind one single community: but [He willed it otherwise, and so] they continue to hold divergent views'*
And so, when they went away with him, they decided to cast him into the dark depths of the well. And We revealed [this] unto him: "Thou wilt yet remind them of this their deed at a time when they shall not perceive [who thou art] !"*
[Joseph] replied: "Place in my charge the store-houses of the land; behold, I shall be a good and knowing keeper.*
And [Joseph] said to his servants: "Place their merchandise* in their camel-packs, so that they may find it there when they come home, and hence be the more eager to return.*
And [later,] when he had provided them with their provisions, he placed the [King's] drinking-cup in his brother's camel-pack. And [as they were leaving the city,] a herald* called out: "O you people of the caravan! Verily, you are thieves!*
And he raised his parents to the highest place of honour;* and they [all] fell down before Him, prostrating themselves in adoration.* Thereupon [Joseph] said: "O my father! This is the real meaning of my dream of long ago, which my Sustainer has made come true.* And He was indeed good to me when He freed me from the prison, and [when] He brought you [all unto me] from the desert after Satan had sown discord between me and my brothers. Verily, my Sustainer is unfathomable in [the way He brings about] whatever He wills:* verily, He alone is all-knowing, truly wise!
And it is He who has spread the earth wide and placed on it firm mountains and running waters, and created thereon two sexes of every [kind of] plant;* [and it is He who] causes the night to cover the day. Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for people who think!
Say: "Who is the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth?" Say: "[It is] God." Say: "[Why,] then, do you take for your protectors, instead of Him, such as have it not within their power to bring benefit to, or avert harm from, themselves?" Say: "Can the blind and the seeing be deemed equal? -or can the depths of darkness and the light be deemed equal?" Or do they [really] believe that there are, side by side with God, other divine powers* that have created the like of what He creates, so that this act of creation appears to them to be similar [to His]?* Say: "God is the Creator of all things; and He is the One who holds absolute sway over all that exists."
IS, THEN, HE who has every living being* in His almighty care, [dealing with each] according to what it deserves* -[is, then, He like anything else that exists]? And yet, they ascribe to other beings a share in God's divinity! Say: "Give them any name [you please]:* but do you [really think that you could] inform Him of anything on earth that He does not know-or [do you] but play with words ?,* Nay, goodly seems their false imagery* to those who are bent on denying the truth, and so they are turned away from the [right] path: and he whom God lets go astray can never find any guide.*
And, truly, We sent forth apostles before thee, and We appointed for them wives and offspring;* and it was not given to any apostle to produce a miracle save at God's behest.* Every age has had its revelation:*
For, they claimed that there are powers that could rival God,* and so they strayed from His path. Say: "Enjoy yourselves [in this world], but, verily, the fire will be your journey's end!"
AND [remember the time] when Abraham spoke [thus]:* "O my Sustainer! Make this land secure,* and preserve me and my children from ever worshipping idols* -
"O our Sustainer! Behold, I have settled some of my offspring in a valley in which there is no arable land,* close to Thy sanctified Temple, so that, O our Sustainer, they might devote themselves to prayer: cause Thou, therefore, people's hearts to incline towards them* and grant them fruitful sustenance, so that they might have cause to be grateful.
[hence,] O my Sustainer, cause me and [some] of my offspring to remain constant in prayer!* "And, O our Sustainer, accept this my prayer:
AND, INDEED, We have set up in the heavens great constellations,* and endowed them with beauty for all to behold;
and provided thereon means of livelihood for you [O men] as well as for all [living beings] whose sustenance does not depend on you.*
and We turned those [sinful towns} upside down, and rained down upon them stone-hard blows of chastisement pre-ordained.*
[and] who [now] declare this Qur'an to be [a tissue of] falsehoods!*
who assert that there are, side by side with God, other divine powers as well:* for in time they will come to know [the truth].
As it is, they ascribe - out of what We provide for them as sustenance - a share unto things of which they know nothing.* By God, you shall most certainly be called to account for all your false imagery!
And [thus, too,] they ascribe daughters unto God, who is limitless in His glory* - whereas for themselves [they would choose, if they could, only] what they desire:*
As it is, they ascribe to God something that they [themselves] dislike* -and [all the while] their tongues utter the lie that [by doing so] they earn supreme merit!* Truly, they earn but the fire, and will be left out [of God's grace]!*
And God has given you mates of your own kinds* and has given you, through your mates, children and children's children, and has provided for you sustenance out of the good things of life. Will men,* then, [continue to] believe in things false and vain, and thus blaspheme against God's blessings? -
And God has brought you forth from your mothers' wombs knowing nothing-but He has endowed you with hearing, and sight, and minds, so that you might have cause to be grateful.
And God has given you [the ability to build] your houses as places of rest, and has endowed you with [the skill to make] dwellings out of the skins of animals* - easy for you to handle when you travel and when you camp -and [to make] furnishings and goods for temporary use of their [rough] wool and their soft, furry wool* and their hair.
And among the many objects of His creation,* God has appointed for you [various] means of protection:* thus, He has given you in the mountains places of shelter, and has endowed you with [the ability to make] garments to protect you from heat [and cold],* as well as such garments as might protect you from your [mutual] violence.* In this way does He bestow the full measure of His blessings on you, so that you might surrender yourselves unto Him.
And be true to your bond with God whenever you bind yourselves by a pledge,* and do not break [your] oaths after having [freely] confirmed them* and having called upon God to be witness to your good faith:* behold, God knows all that you do.
For, had God so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community;* however, He lets go astray him that wills [to go astray], and guides aright him that wills [to be guided];* and you will surely be called to account for all that you ever did!*
[and know that the observance of] the Sabbath was ordained only for those who came to hold divergent views about him;* but, verily, God will judge between them on Resurrection Day with regard to all on which they were wont to differ.*
And [thus, too,] We vouchsafed revelation unto Moses,* and made it a [source of] guidance for the children of Israel, [commanding them:] "Do not ascribe to any but Me the power to determine your fate,*
And after a time We allowed you to prevail against them once again,* and aided you with wealth and offspring, and made you more numerous [than ever].
Your Sustainer may well show mercy unto you; but if you revert [to sinning], We shall revert [to chastising you]. And [remember this:] We have ordained that [in the hereafter] hell shall close upon all who deny the truth.
And We have established the night and the day as two symbols;* and thereupon We have effaced the symbol of night and set up [in its place] the light giving symbol of day,* so that you might seek to obtain your Sustainer's bounty and be aware of the passing years* and of the reckoning [that is bound to come]. For clearly, most clearly, have We spelt out everything!*
Unto him who cares for [no more than the enjoyment of] this fleeting life We readily grant thereof as much as We please, [giving] to whomever it is Our will [to give]; but in the end We consign him to [the suffering of] hell;* which he will have to endure disgraced and disowned!
DO NOT set up any other deity side by side with God, lest thou find thyself disgraced and forsaken:
And neither allow thy hand to remain shackled to thy neck,* nor stretch it forth to the utmost limit [of thy capacity], lest thou find thyself blamed [by thy dependants], or even destitute.
And do not take any human being's life -[the life] which God has willed to be, sacred-otherwise than in [the pursuit of] justice.* Hence, if anyone has been slain wrongfully, We have empowered the defender of his rights [to exact a just retribution] ;* but even so, let him not exceed the bounds of equity in [retributive] killing.* [And as for him who has been slain wrongfully -] behold, he is indeed succoured [by God] !*
this is part of that knowledge of right and wrong with which thy Sustainer has inspired thee.* Hence, do not set up any other deity side by side with God,* lest thou be cast into hell, blamed [by thyself] and rejected [by Him]!
But [thus it is:]* whenever thou recitest the Qur'an, We place an invisible barrier between thee and those who will not believe in the life to come:_
for, over their hearts We have laid veils which prevent them from grasping its purport, and into their ears, deafness.* And so, whenever thou dost mention, while reciting the Qur'an, thy Sustainer as the one and only Divine Being,* they turn their backs [upon thee] in aversion.
And lo! We said unto thee, [O Prophet:] "Behold, thy Sustainer encompasses all mankind [within His knowledge and might]: and so We have ordained that the vision which We have shown thee* -as also the tree [of hell,] cursed in this Qur'an - shall be but a trial for men .* Now [by Our mentioning hell] We convey a warning to them: but [if they are bent on denying the truth,] this [warning] only increases their gross, overweening arrogance."
And say [in thy prayer]: "O my Sustainer! Cause me to enter [upon whatever I may do] in a manner .true and sincere, and cause me to leave [it] in a manner true and sincere, and grant me, out of Thy grace, sustaining strength!"
Are they, then, not aware that God, who has created the heavens and the earth, has the power to create them anew in their own likeness,* having, beyond any doubt, set a term for their resurrection?* However, all [such] evildoers are unwilling to accept anything but blasphemy!*
ALL PRAISE is due to God, who has bestowed. this divine writ from on high upon His servant, and has not allowed any deviousness to obscure its meaning:*
Behold, We have willed that all beauty on earth be a means by which We put men to a test,* [showing] which of them are best in conduct;
AND PROPOUND unto them the parable of two men, upon one of whom We had bestowed two vinyards, and surrounded them with date-palms, and placed a field of grain in-between.*
And they will be lined up before thy Sustainer, [and He will say:* ] "Now, indeed, you have come unto Us [in a lonely state], even as We created you in the first instances* - although you were wont to assert that We would never 'appoint for you a meeting [with Us]!"
Hence, [bear in mind] the Day on which He will say, "Call [now] unto those beings whom you imagined to have a share in My divinity!"* - whereupon they will invoke them, but those [beings] will not respond to them: for We shall have placed between them an unbridgeable gulf.*
And who could be more wicked than he to whom his Sustainer's messages are conveyed and who thereupon turns away from them, forgetting all [the evil] that his hands may have wrought?* Behold, over their hearts have We laid veils which prevent them from grasping the truth, and into their ears, deafness; and though thou call them onto the right path,* they will never allow themselves to be guided.
as [was the case with all] those communities that We destroyed when they went on and on doing wrong:* for We had set a time-limit for their destruction.
[And then he marched eastwards] till, when he came to the rising of the sun* he found that it was rising on a people for whom We had provided no coverings against it:
They said: "O thou Two-Horned One! Behold, Gog and Magog"* are spoiling this land. May we, then, pay unto thee a tribute on the understanding that thou wilt erect a barrier between us and them?"
He answered: "That wherein my Sustainer has so securely established me is better [than anything that you could give me];* hence, do but help me with [your labour's] strength, [and] I shall erect a rampart between you and them!
Bring me ingots of iron!" Then, after he had [piled up the iron and] filled the gap between the two mountain-sides, he said: "[Light a fire and] ply your bellows!"* At length, when he had made it [glow like] fire, he commanded: "Bring me molten copper which I may pour upon it."
Said [the King]: "This is a mercy from my Sustainer! Yet when the time appointed by my Sustainer* shall come, He will make this [rampart] level with the ground: and my Sustainer's promise always comes true!"*
who will be my heir as well as an heir [to the dignity] of the House of Jacob; and make him, O my Sustainer, well-pleasing to Thee!"
[Thereupon the angels called out unto him:* "O Zachariah! We bring thee the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son whose name shall be John. [And God says,] `Never have We given this name to anyone before him."*
[Zachariah] prayed: "O my Sustainer! Appoint a sign for me!" Said [the angel]: "Thy sign shall be that for full three nights [and days] thou wilt not speak unto men.*
[The angel] answered: "Thus it is; [but] thy Sustainer says, `This is easy for Me;* and [thou shalt have a son,] so that We might make him a symbol unto mankind and an act of grace from US.* And it was a thing decreed [by God]:
Thereupon [a voice] called out to her from beneath that [palm-tree]:* "Grieve not! Thy Sustainer has provided a rivulet [running] beneath thee;
[But] he said:* "Behold, I am a servant of God. He has vouchsafed unto me revelation and made me a prophet,*
and made me blessed wherever I may be; and He has enjoined upon me prayer and charity as long as I live,
and [has endowed me with] piety towards my mother; and He has not made me haughty or bereft of grace.
And after he had withdrawn from them and from all that they were worshipping instead of God, We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob, and made each of them a prophet;
and We bestowed upon them [manifold] gifts out of Our grace, and granted them a lofty power to convey the truth [unto others].*
VERILY, those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds will the Most Gracious endow with love:*
and appoint for me, out of my kinsfolk, one who will help me to bear my burden:*
HE IT IS who has made the earth a cradle for you, and has traced out for you ways [of livelihood] thereon,* and [who] sends down waters from the sky: and by this means We bring forth various kinds* of plants.
In that case, we shall most certainly produce before thee the like thereof! Appoint, then, a tryst between us and thee - which we shall not fail to keep, nor [mayest] thou -at a suitable place!"
and neither did We endow them with bodies that could dispense with food nor were they immortal.*
And that cry of theirs did not cease until We caused them to become [like] a field mown down, still and silent as ashes.
ARE, THEN, they who are bent on denying the truth not aware that the heavens and the earth were [once] one single entity, which We then parted asunder? –* and [that] We made out of water every living thing? Will they not, then, [begin to] believe?*
And [are they not aware that] We have set up firm mountains on earth, lest it sway with them,* and [that] We have appointed thereon broad paths, so that they might find their way,
and [that] We have set up the sky as a canopy well-secured?* And yet, they stubbornly turn away from [all] the signs of this [creation],
AND [remind those who deny thee, O Prophet, that]* never have We granted life everlasting to any mortal before thee:* but do they, perchance, hope that al­though thou must die, they will live forever?"*
And then he broke those [idols] to pieces, [all] save the biggest of them, so that they might [be able to] turn to it.*
and whereas they sought to do evil unto him, We caused them to suffer the greatest loss:*
And We bestowed upon him Isaac and [Isaacs son] Jacob as an additional gift* and caused all of them to be righteous men,
and made them leaders who would guide [others] in accordance with Our behest: for We inspired them [with a will] to do good works, and to be constant in prayer, and to dispense charity: and Us [alone] did they worship.
AND [remember] her who guarded her chastity, whereupon We breathed into her of Our spirit* and caused her, together with her son, to become a symbol [of Our grace] unto all people.*
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 [thus it is:] unto every community [that has ever believed in Us] have We appointed [sacrifice as] an act of worship, so that they might extol the name of God over whatever heads of cattle He may have provided for them [to this end].* And (always bear in mind:) your God is the One and Only God: hence, surrender yourselves unto Him. And give thou the glad tiding [of God's acceptance] unto all who are humble –
And as for the sacrifice of cattle, We have ordained it for you as one of the symbols set up by God,* in which there is [much] good for you. Hence, extol the name of God over them when they are lined up [for sacrifice]; and after they have fallen lifeless to the ground, eat of their flesh,* and feed the poor who is contented with his lot (and does not beg), as well as him who is forced to beg. It is to this end* that We have made them* subservient to your needs, so that you might have cause to be grateful.
[And He allows doubts to arise] so that He might cause whatever aspersion Satan may cast [against His prophets] to become a trial for all in whose hearts is disease* and all whose hearts are hardened: for, verily, all who are [thus] sinning [against themselves]* are most deeply in the wrong.
UNTO every community have We appointed [different] ways of worship,* which they ought to observe. Hence, [O believer,] do not let those [who follow ways other than thine] draw thee into disputes on this score,* but summon [them all] unto thy Sustainer: for, behold, thou art indeed on the right way.
And strive hard in God's cause with all the striving that is due to Him: it is He who has elected you [to carry His message], and has laid no hardship on you in [anything that pertains to religion,* [and made you follow] the creed of your forefather Abraham.* It is He who has named you in bygone times as well as in this [divine writ] – “those who have surrendered themselves to God",* so that the Apostle might bear witness to the truth before you, and that you might bear witness to it before all mankind. Thus, be constant in prayer, and render the purifying dues, and hold fast unto God. He is your Lord Supreme: and how excellent is this Lord Supreme, and how excellent this Giver of Succour!
and then We cause him to remain as a drop of sperm in [the wombs] firm keeping,
And then the blast [of Our punishment] over­took them, justly and unavoidably,* and We caused them to become as the flotsam of dead leaves and the scum borne on the surface of a torrent: and so - away with those evildoing folk!
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!
And [as We exalted Moses, so, too,] We made the son of Mary and his mother a symbol [of Our grace],* and provided for both an abode in a lofty place of lasting restfulness and unsullied springs.*
do not, O my Sustainer, let me be one of those evildoing folk!"
Or [else, their deeds are]* like the depths of darkness upon an abysmal sea, made yet more dark by wave billowing over wave, with [black] clouds above it all: depths of darkness, layer upon layer,* [so that] when one holds up his hand, he can hardly see it: for he to whom God gives no light, no light whatever has he!
Art thou not aware that it is God who causes the clouds to move onward, then joins them together, then piles them up in masses, until thou can see rain come forth from their midst? And He it is who sends down from the skies, by degrees, mountainous masses [of clouds] charged with hail, striking therewith whomever He wills and averting it from whomever He wills, [the while] the flash of His lightning well-nigh deprives [men of their] sight!
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].
Hallowed is He who, if it be His will, shall give thee something better than that [whereof they speak] - gardens through which running waters flow - and shall assign to thee mansions [of bliss in the life to come].
AND [even] before thee, [O Muhammad,] We never sent as Our message-bearers any but [mortal men] who indeed ate food [like other human beings] and went about in the market places: for [it is thus that] We cause you [human beings] to be a means of testing one another.* Are you* able to endure [this test] with patience? For [remember, O man,] thy Sustainer is truly all-seeing!
for We shall have turned towards all the [supposedly good] deeds they ever wrought, and shall have transformed them into scattered dust –
For so it is that against every prophet We have set up enemies from among those who are lost in sin:* yet none can guide and give succour as thy Sustainer does!
AND, INDEED, [long before Muhammad] We vouchsafed revelation unto Moses, and appointed his brother Aaron to help him to bear his burden;*
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!
Art thou not aware of thy Sustainer [through His works]? - how He causes the shadow to lengthen [towards the night] when, had He so willed, He could indeed have made it stand still: but then, We have made the sun its guide;
And He it is who makes the night a garment for you, and [your] sleep a rest, and causes every [new] day to be a resurrection.
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.*
And He it is who out of this [very] water has created man,* and has endowed him with [the con­sciousness of] descent and marriage-tie:* for thy Sustainer is ever infinite in His power.
HALLOWED is He who has set up in the skies great constellations, and has placed among them a [radiant] lamp and a light-giving moon.*
And He it is who causes the night and the day to succeed one another, [revealing Himself in His works] unto him who has the will to take thought - that is* has the will to be grateful.
and who pray “O our Sustainer! Grant that our spouses and our offspring be a joy to our eyes,* and cause us to be foremost among those who are conscious of Thee!"
and I fled from you because I feared you. But [since] then my Sustainer has endowed me with the ability to judge [between right and wrong], and has made me one of [His] message-­bearers.*
Said [Pharaoh]: “Indeed, if thou choose to worship any deity other than me, I shall most cer­tainly throw thee into prison!*
and grant me the power to convey the truth unto those who will come after me,*
and place me among those who shall inherit the garden of bliss!
Said she: “Verily, whenever kings enter a country they corrupt it,* and turn the noblest of its people into the most abject. And this is the way they [always] behave?*
Nay - who is it that has made the earth a fitting abode* [for living things], and has caused running waters [to flow] in its midst, and has set upon it moun­tains firm, and has placed a barrier between the two great bodies of water?* Could there be any divine power besides God? Nay, most of those [who think so] do not know [what they are saying]!
Nay - who is it that responds to the distressed when he calls out to Him, and who removes the ill [that caused the distress], and has made you inherit the earth?* Could there be any divine power besides God? How seldom do you keep this in mind!
for, were they not aware that it is We who had made the night for them, so that they might rest therein, and the day, to make [them] see?* In this, behold, there are messages indeed for peo­ple who will believe!
Behold, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and divided its people into castes.* One group of them he deemed utterly low; he would slaughter their sons and spare (only) their women:* for, behold, he was one of those who spread corruption [on earth].
But it was Our will to bestow Our favour upon those [very people] who were deemed [so] utterly low in the land, and to make them forerunners in faith.* and to make them heirs [to Pharaoh's glory],
Said He: “We shall strengthen thine arm through thy brother, and endow both of you with power, so that they will not be able to touch you:* by virtue of Our messages shall you two, and all who follow you, prevail!"
Whereupon Pharaoh said: “O you nobles! I did not know that you could have any deity other than myself* Well, then, O Haman, kindle me a fire for [baking bricks of] clay, and then build me a lofty tower, that haply I may have a look at the god of Moses* although, behold, I am convinced that he is of those who [always] tell lies!"
[We destroyed them,] and We set them up as archetypes [of evil] that show the way to the fire [of hell];* and [whereas] no succour will come to them on Resurrection Day,
Say: “Have you ever considered [this]: If God had willed that there should always be night about you, without break, until the Day of Resurrection - is there any deity other than God that could bring you light?* Will you not, then, listen [to the truth]?"
Say: “Have you ever considered [this]: If God had willed that there should always be daylight about you, without break, until the Day of Resurrection - is there any deity other than God that could bring you [the darkness of] night, wherein you might rest? Will you not, then, see [the truth]?"*
For it is out of His grace that He has made for you the night and the day, so that you might rest therein as well as seek to obtain [what you need] of His bounty: and [He gave you all this] so that you might have cause to be grateful.
As for that [happy] life in the hereafter, We grant it [only] to those who do not seek to exalt themselves on earth, nor yet to spread corruption: for the future belongs to the God-conscious.*
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?
but We saved him, together with all who were in the ark, which We then set up as a symbol [of Our grace] for all people [to remember].
And [as for Abraham,] We bestowed upon him Isaac and [Isaac's son] Jacob,* and caused pro­phethood and revelation to continue among his offspring. And We vouchsafed him his reward in this world;* and, verily, in the life to come [too] he shall find himself among the righteous.
Are they, then, not aware that We have set up a sanctuary secure [for those who believe in Us], the while all around them men are being carried away [by fear and despair]?* Will they, then, [continue to] believe in things false and vain, and thus deny God's blessings.
And among His wonders is this: He creates for you mates out of your own kind.* so that you might incline towards them, and He engenders love and tenderness between you: in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who think!
It is God who sends forth the winds [of hope],* so that they raise a cloud - whereupon He spreads it over the skies as He wills, and causes it to break up so that thou seest rain issue from within it: and as soon as He causes it to fall upon whomever He wills of His servants - lo! they rejoice,
IT IS GOD who creates you [all in a states of weak­ness, and then, after weakness, ordains strength [for you], and then, after [a period of] strength, ordains [old-age] weakness and grey hair.* He creates what He wills; and He alone is all-knowing, infinite in His power.
then He causes him to be begotten* out of the essence of a humble fluid;
and then He forms him in accordance with what he is meant to be, and breathes into him of His spirit:* and [thus, O men,] He endows you with hearing, and sight, and feelings as well as minds:* [yet] how seldom are you grateful!
AND, INDEED, [O Muhammad,] We did vouchsafe revelation unto Moses [as well]: so be not in doubt of [thy] having met with the same [truth in the revelation vouchsafed to thee].* And [just as] We caused that [earlier revelation] to be a guidance for the children of Israel,
and [as] We raised among them leaders who, so long as they bore themselves with patience and had sure faith in Our messages, guided [their people] in accordance with Our behest* [so, too, shall it be with the divine writ revealed unto thee, O Muhammad.]*
NEVER has God endowed any man with two hearts in one body:* and [just as] He has never made your wives whom you may have declared to be “as unlawful to you as your mothers' bodies" [truly] your mothers,* so, too, has He never made your adopted sons [truly] your sons:* these are but [figures of] speech uttered by your mouths - whereas God speaks the [absolute] truth:* and it is He alone who can show [you] the right path.
Now [before their downfall,] We had placed between them and the cities which We had blessed* [many] towns within sight of one another; and thus We had made traveling easy [for them, as if to say]: “Travel safely in this [land], by night or by day!"
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].
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?
And [remember:] God creates [every one of] you out of dust,* then out of a drop of sperm; and then He fashions you into either of the two sexes.* And no female conceives or gives birth unless it be with His knowledge; and none that is long-lived has his days lengthened - and neither is aught lessened of his days - unless it be thus laid down in [God's] decree: for, behold, all this is easy for God.
He it is who has made you inherit the earth.* Hence, he who is bent on denying the truth [of God's oneness and uniqueness ought to know that] this denial of his will fall back upon him: for their [per­sistent] denial of this truth does but add to the deniers' loathsomeness in their Sustainer's sight and, thus, their denial of this truth does but add to the deniers' loss.
Behold, around their necks We have put shack­les,* reaching up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up;*
and We have set a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, and We have enshrouded them in veils so that they cannot see:*
how my Sustainer has forgiven me [the sins of my past], and has placed me among the honoured ones!"
and [how] We make gardens of date-palms and vines [grow] thereon, and cause springs to gush [forth] within it,
He who produces for you fire out of the green tree, so that, lo! you kindle [your fires] therewith."*
Verily, We have caused it to be a trial for evildoers:*
and caused his offspring to endure [on earth];
But whereas they sought to do evil unto him, We [frustrated their designs, and thus] brought them low?*
And some people* have invented a kinship between Him and all manner of invisible forces* although [even] these invisible forces know well that, verily, they [who thus blaspheme against God] shall indeed be arraigned [before Him on Judgment Day: for]*
Does he claim that all the deities are [but] one God? Verily, a most strange thing is this!"*
[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!"
[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?*
He has created you [all] out of one living entity, and out of it fashioned its mate;* and he has be­stowed upon you four kinds of cattle of either sex;* [and] He creates you in your mothers' wombs, one act of creation after another, in threefold depths of darkness.* Thus is God, your Sustainer: unto Him belongs all dominion: there is no deity save Him: how, then, can you lose sight of the truth?*
NOW [thus it is:] when affliction befalls man, he is likely to cry out to his Sustainer, turning unto Him [for help];* but as soon as He has bestowed upon him a boon by His grace, he forgets Him whom he in­voked before, and claims that there are other powers that could rival God* - and thus leads [others] astray from His path. Say [unto him who sins in this way]: “Enjoy thyself for a while in this thy denial of the truth; [yet,] verily, thou art of those who are destined for the fire!
ART THOU NOT aware that it is God who sends down water from the skies, and then causes it to travel through the earth in the shape of springs? And then He brings forth thereby herbage of various hues; and then it withers, and thou canst see it turn yellow; and in the end He causes it to crumble to dust.* Verily, in [all] this there is indeed a reminder to those who are endowed with insight!
IT IS GOD who has made the night for you, so that you might rest therein, and the day, to make [you] see.* Behold, God is indeed limitless in His bounty unto man - but most men are ungrateful.
It is God who has made the earth a resting- place for you and the sky a canopy, and has formed you - and formed you so well* and provided for you sustenance out of the good things of life. Such is God, your Sustainer: hallowed, then, is God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!
It is God who [at all times works wonders for you:* thus, He] provides for you [all manner of] livestock, so that on some of them you may ride, and from some derive your food,
SAY: “Would you indeed deny Him who has created the earth in two aeons?* And do you claim that there is any power that could rival Him, the Sustainer of all the worlds?"*
For He [it is who, after creating the earth,] placed firm mountains on it, [towering] above its surface, and bestowed [so many] blessings on it, and equitably apportioned* its means of subsistence to all who would seek it: [and all this He created] in four aeons.*
And they who [in their life on earth] were bent on denying the truth will [thereupon] exclaim: “O our Sustainer! Show us those of the invisible beings and humans that have led us astray:* we shall trample them underfoot, so that they shall be the lowest of all!"*
Now if We had willed this [divine writ] to be a discourse in a non-Arabic tongue, they [who now reject it] would surely have said, “Why is it that its messages have not been spelled out clearly?* Why - [a message in] a non-Arabic tongue, and [its bearer] an Arab?" Say: “Unto all who have attained to faith, this [divine writ] is a guidance and a source of health; but as for those who will not believe - in their ears is deafness, and so it remains obscure to them: they are [like people who are] being called from too far away.*
Now had God so willed, He could surely have made them all one single community:* none the less, He admits unto His grace him that wills [to be admitted]* whereas the evildoers shall have none to protect them and none to succour them [on Judgment Day].
The Originator [is He] of the heavens and the earth. He has given you mates of your own kind* just as [He has willed that] among the beasts [there be] mates - to multiply you thereby: [but] there is nothing like unto Him, and He alone is all-hearing, all-seeing.*
or He gives both male and female [to whomever He wills], and causes to be barren whomever He wills: for, verily, He is all-knowing, infinite in His power.*
And thus, too,* [O Muhammad,] have We revealed unto thee a life-giving message,* [coming] at Our behest. [Ere this message came unto thee,] thou didst not know what revelation is, nor what faith [implies]:* but [now] We have caused this [message] to be a light, whereby We guide whom We will of Our ser­vants: and, verily, [on the strength thereof] thou, too, shalt guide [men] onto the straight way -
behold, We have caused it to be a discourse in the Arabic tongue, so that you might encompass it with your reason.*
He it is who has made the earth a cradle for you, and has provided for you ways [of livelihood] thereon,* so that you might follow the right path.
And He it is who has created all opposites.* And He [it is who] has provided for you all those ships and animals whereon you ride,
AND YET,* they attribute to Him offspring from among some of the beings created by Him!* Verily, most obviously bereft of all gratitude is man!
And [yet] they claim that the angels - who in themselves are but beings created by the Most Gracious - are females:* [but] did they witness their creation? This false claim of theirs* will be recorded, and they will be called to account [for it on Judgment Day]!
And he uttered this as a word destined to endure among those who would come after him, so that they might [always] return [to it].
And were it not that [with the prospect of boundless riches before them] all people would become one [evil] community,* We might indeed have provided for those who [now] deny the Most Gracious roofs of silver for their houses, and [silver] stairways whereon to ascend,
Yet [above all else,] ask any of Our apostles whom We sent forth before thy time* whether We have ever allowed that deities other than the Most Gracious be worshipped!
and so We made them a thing of the past, and an example to those who would come after them.
[As for Jesus,] he was nothing but [a human being -] a servant [of Ours] whom We had graced [with prophethood], and whom We made an example for the children of Israel .
And had We so willed, [O you who worship angels,] We could indeed have made you into angels succeeding one another on earth!*
And, finally, [O Muhammad,] We have set thee on a way by which the purpose [of faith] may be fulfilled:* so follow thou this [way], and follow not the likes and dislikes of those who do not know [the truth].*
Now as for those who indulge in sinful doings - do they think that We place them, both in their life and their death, on an equal footing with those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds? Bad, indeed, is their judgment:*
HAST THOU ever considered [the kind of man] who makes his own desires his deity, and whom God has [thereupon] let go astray, knowing [that his mind is closed to all guidance],* and whose hearing and heart He has sealed, and upon whose sight He has placed a veil?* Who, then, could guide him after God [has abandoned him]? Will you not, then, bethink your­selves?
And yet, We had established them securely in a manner in which We have never established you, [O people of later times;]* and We had endowed them with hearing, and sight, and [knowledgeable] hearts:* but neither their hearing, nor their sight, nor their hearts were of the least avail to them, seeing that they went on rejecting God's messages; and [in the end] they were overwhelmed* by the very thing which they had been wont to deride.
Whereas they who are bent on denying the truth harboured a stubborn disdain in their hearts - the stubborn disdain [born] of ignorance* God bestowed from on high His [gift of] inner peace upon His Apostle and the believers, and bound them to the spirit of God-consciousness:* for they were most worthy of this [divine gift], and deserved it well. And God has full knowledge of all things.
Indeed, God has shown the truth in His Apostle's true vision:* most certainly shall you enter the Inviolable House of Worship, if God so wills, in full security, with your heads shaved or your hair cut short, without any fear:* for He has [always] known that which you yourselves could not know.* And He has ordained [for you], besides this, a victory soon to come.*
O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female,* and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another.* Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.
who has set up another deity beside God:* cast him, then, cast him into suffering severe!"
which spared nothing of what it came upon, but caused [all of] it to become like bones dead and decayed.*
And do not ascribe divinity to aught side by side with God:* verily, I am a plain warner to you from Him!"
having resurrected them as virgins,*
[For,] were it Our will, We could indeed turn it into chaff, and you would be left to wonder [and to lament],
[It comes down sweet - but] were it Our will, We could make it burningly salty and bitter: why, then, do you not give thanks [unto Us]?
It is We who have made it a means to remind [you of Us],* and a comfort for all who are lost and hungry in the wilderness [of their lives].*
and make it your daily bread [as it were] to call the truth a lie?
BELIEVE in God and His Apostle, and spend on others out of that of which He has made you trus­tees:* for, those of you who have attained to faith and who spend freely [in God's cause] shall have a great reward.
And, indeed, [to the same end]* We sent forth Noah and Abraham [as Our message-bearers], and established prophethood and revelation among their descendants; and some of them were on the right way, but many were iniquitous.
And thereupon We caused [other of] Our apostles to follow in their footsteps; and [in the course of time] We caused them to be followed by Jesus, the son of Mary, upon whom We bestowed the Gospel;* and in the hearts of those who [truly] followed him We engendered compassion and mercy. But as for monastic asceticism -* We did not enjoin it upon them: they invented it themselves out of a desire for God's goodly acceptance.* But then, they did not [always] observe it as it ought to have been observed:* and so We granted their recompense unto such of them as had [truly] attained to faith, whereas many of them became iniquitous.*
O YOU who have attained to faith!* Remain con­scious of God, and believe in His Apostle, [and] He will grant you doubly of His grace, and will light for you a light wherein you shall walk, and will forgive you [your past sins]: for God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
And so, they who come after them pray:* “O our Sustainer! Forgive us our sins, as well as those of our brethren who preceded us in faith, and let not our hearts entertain any unworthy thoughts or feelings against [any of] those who have attained to faith. O our Sustainer! Verily, Thou art compassionate, a dispenser of grace!"
O our Sustainer! Make us not a plaything* for those who are bent on denying the truth! And forgive us our sins, O our sustainer: for Thou alone art, almighty, truly wise!"
[But] it may well be that God will bring about [mutual] affection between you [O believers] and some of those whom you [now] face as enemies: for, God is all-powerful - and God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
And so, when they are about to reach the end of their waiting-term, either retain them in a fair manner or part with them in a fair manner. And let two persons of [known] probity from among your own community* witness [what you have decided]; and do yourselves bear true witness before God:* thus are admonished all who believe in God and the Last Day. And unto everyone who is conscious of God, He [always] grants a way out [of unhappiness],
and provides for him in a manner beyond all expectation;* and for everyone who places his trust in God He [alone] is enough. Verily, God always attains to His purpose: [and] indeed, unto everything has God appointed its [term and] measure.
Now as for such of your women as are beyond, the age of monthly courses, as well as for such as do not have any courses,* their waiting-period - if you have any doubt [about it] - shall be three [calendar] months; and as for those who are with child, the end of their waiting-term shall come when they deliver their burden. And for everyone who is conscious of God, He makes it easy to obey His commandment:*
[In all these respects,] let him who has ample means spend in accordance with* his amplitude; and let him whose means of subsistence are scanty spend in accordance with what God has given him: God does not burden any human being with more than He has given him - [and it may well be that] God will grant, after hardship, ease.
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 –
He it is who has made the earth easy to live upon:* go about, then, in all its regions, and partake the sustenance which He provides: but [always bear in mind that] unto Him you shall be resurrected.
SAY: "[God is] He who has brought you [all] into being, and has endowed you with hearing, and sight, and hearts:* [yet] how seldom are you grateful!"
or should We, perchance, treat those who surrender themselves unto Us* as [We would treat] those who remain lost in sin?
but [as it was,] his Sustainer had elected him and placed him among the righteous.
so that We might make all this* a [lasting] reminder to you all, and that every wide-awake ear might consciously take it in.
And behold, whenever I called unto them with a view to Thy granting them forgiveness, they put their fingers into their ears, and wrapped themselves up in their garments [of sin];* and grew obstinate, and became [yet more] arrogant in their false pride.
and will aid you with worldly goods and children, and will bestow upon you gardens, and bestow upon you running waters.*
and has set up within them the moon as a light [reflected] and set up the sun as a [radiant] lamp?*
"'And God has made the earth a wide expanse for you,
Say: "I do not know whether that [doom] of which you were forewarned is near, or whether my Sustainer has set for it a distant term."
How, then, if you refuse to acknowledge the truth, will you protect yourselves on that Day which shall turn the hair of children grey,*
and to whom I have granted resources vast,
For We have caused none but angelic powers to lord over the fire [of hell];* and We have not caused their number to be aught but a trial for those who are bent on denying the truth* - to the end that they who have been granted revelation aforetime might be convinced [of the truth of this divine writ];* and that they who have attained to faith [in it] might grow yet more firm in their faith; and that [both] they who have been granted the earlier revelation and they who believe [in this one] might be freed of all doubt; and that they in whose hearts is disease* and the who deny the truth outright might ask, "What does [your] God mean by this parable?"* In this way God lets go astray him that wills [to go astray], and guides aright him that wills [to be guided].* And none can comprehend thy Sustainers forces save Him alone: and all this* is but a reminder to mortal man.
and fashioned out of it the two sexes, the male and the female?
Verily, it is We who have created man out of a drop of sperm intermingled,* so that We might try him [in his later life]: and therefore We made him a being endowed with hearing and sight.
which We then let remain in [the womb's] firm keeping
Have We not caused the earth to hold within itself
and have We not set on it proud, firm mountains, and given you sweet water to drink?*
HAVE WE NOT made the earth a resting-place [for you],
and We have made your sleep [a symbol of] death*
and made the night [its] cloak
and made the day [a symbol of] life.*
and have placed [therein the sun,] a lamp full of blazing splendour.
and thereupon causes it to decay into rust-brown stubble!*
Have We not given him two eyes,
Did He not utterly confound their artful planning?
and caused them to become like a field of grain that has been eaten down to stubble*