SAY: "If all the sea were ink for my Sustainer's words, the sea would indeed be exhausted ere my Sustainer's words are exhausted! And [thus it would be] if we were to add to it sea upon sea."*
But excepted shall be* -from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God - [people] with whom you [O believers] have made a covenant and who thereafter have in no wise failed to fulfil their obligations towards you, and neither have aided anyone against you: observe, then, your covenant with them until the end of the term agreed with them.* Verily, God loves those who are conscious of Him.
Lo! You were praying unto your Sustainer for aid, whereupon He thus responded to you: "I shall, verily, aid you with a thousand angels following one upon' another!"
Say: "As for him who lives in error, may the Most Gracious lengthen the span of his life!* [And let them say whatever they say* until the time when they behold that [doom] of which they were forewarned-whether it be suffering [in this world] or [at the coming of] the Last Hour -: for then they will understand which [of the two kinds of man] was worse in station and weaker in resources!*
Nay! We shall record what he says, and We shall lengthen the length of his suffering [in the hereafter],
and to whom I have granted resources vast,
[And remember] when thou didst say unto the believers: "Is it not enough for you [to know] that your Sustainer will aid you with three thousand angels sent down [from on high]?
Nay, but if you are patient in adversity and conscious of Him, and the enemy should fall upon you of a sudden, your Sustainer will aid you with five thousand angels swooping down!"*
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].
All [of them] -these as well as those -do We freely endow with some of thy Sustainer's gifts, since thy Sustainer's giving is never confined [to one kind of man].
Do they think that by all the wealth and offspring with which We provide them
and [thus] be conscious of Him who has [so] amply provided you with all [the good] that you might think of*
amply provided you with flocks, and children,
Now when [the Queen's messenger] came unto Solomon, he said: Do you people mean to add to my wealth? But that which God has given me* is [so much] better than all that He has given you! Nay, it is [only such as] you* that would rejoice in this gift of yours!
And We shall bestow on them fruit and meat in abundance - whatever they may desire:
and will aid you with worldly goods and children, and will bestow upon you gardens, and bestow upon you running waters.*
God will requite them for their mockery,* and will leave them for a while in their overweening arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro:
even though their [godless] brethren would [like to] draw them into error:* and then they cannot fail [to do what is right].
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!
And the earth -We have spread it out wide, and placed on it mountains firm, and caused [life] of every kind to grow on it in a balanced manner,
[so] turn, not thine eyes [longingly] towards the worldly benefits which We have granted unto some* of those [that deny the truth]. And neither grieve over those [who refuse to heed thee], but spread the wings of thy tenderness over the believers,*
Say: "As for him who lives in error, may the Most Gracious lengthen the span of his life!* [And let them say whatever they say* until the time when they behold that [doom] of which they were forewarned-whether it be suffering [in this world] or [at the coming of] the Last Hour -: for then they will understand which [of the two kinds of man] was worse in station and weaker in resources!*
Nay! We shall record what he says, and We shall lengthen the length of his suffering [in the hereafter],
And never turn thine, eyes [with longing] towards whatever splendour of this world's life We may have allowed so many others* to enjoy in order that We might test them thereby: for the sustenance which thy Sustainer provides [for thee] is better and more enduring.*
If anyone thinks that God will not succour him* in this world and in the life to come, let him reach out unto heaven by any [other] means and [thus try to] make headway:* and then let him see whether this scheme of his will indeed do away with the cause of his anguish.*
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 if all the trees on earth were pens, and the sea [were] ink, with seven [morel seas yet* added to it, the words of God would not be exhausted: for, verily, God is almighty, wise.*
And the earth - We have spread it wide, and set upon it mountains firm, and caused it to bring forth plants of all beauteous kinds,
and when the earth is leveled,*
