"And behold I called unto them openly;
And [remember] when you said, "O Moses. indeed we shall not believe thee unto we see God face to face!" - whereupon the thunderbolt of punishment* overtook you before your very eyes.
THE FOLLOWERS of the Old Testament* demand of thee [O Prophet] that thou cause a revelation to be sent down to them from heaven.* And an even greater thing than this did they demand of Moses when they said, "Make us see God face to face" - whereupon the thunderbolt of punishment overtook them for this their wickedness.* After that, they took to worshipping the [golden] calf - and this after all evidence of the truth had come unto them! None the less, We effaced this [sin of theirs], and vouchsafed unto Moses a clear proof [of the 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?*
It is all alike [to Him] whether any of you conceals his thought* or brings it into the open, and whether he seeks to hide [his evil deeds] under the cover of night or walks [boldly] in the light of day,*
Say: "Invoke God, or invoke the Most Gracious: by whichever name you invoke Him, [He is always the One-for] His are all the attributes of perfection.* And [pray unto Him; yet] be not too loud in thy prayer nor speak it in too low a voice, but follow a way in-between;
And if thou say anything aloud, [He hears it] since, behold, He knows [even] the secret [thoughts of man] as well as all that is yet more hidden [within him].*
O you who have attained to faith! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet,* and neither speak loudly to him, as you would speak loudly to one another,* lest all your [good] deeds come to nought without your perceiving it.
AND [know, O men, that] whether you keep your beliefs* secret or state them openly, He has full knowledge indeed of all that is in [your] hearts.*
God does not like any evil to be mentioned openly, unless it be by him who has been wronged (thereby)* And God is indeed all-hearing, all-knowing,
although He is God in the heavens and on earth, knowing all that you keep secret as well as all that you do openly, and knowing what you deserve.
And bethink thyself of thy Sustainer humbly and with awe, and without raising thy voice, at morn and at evening; and do not allow thyself to be heedless.
God propounds [to you] the parable of [two men-] a man enslaved, unable to do anything of his own accord, and a [free] man upon whom We have bestowed goodly sustenance [as a gift] from Ourselves, so that he can spend thereof [at will, both] secretly and openly. Can these [two] be deemed equal?* All praise is due to God [alone]: but most of them do not understand it.
Verily, He knows all that is said openly, just as He [alone] knows all that you would conceal.
O you who have attained to faith! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet,* and neither speak loudly to him, as you would speak loudly to one another,* lest all your [good] deeds come to nought without your perceiving it.
save what God may will [thee to forget]* - for, verily, He [alone] knows all that is open to [man's] perception as well as all that is hidden [from it]*
