And [always] listen for the day when He who issues the call [of death] shall call [thee] from close-by;*

"O our Sustainer! Behold, we heard a voice* call [us] unto faith, `Believe in your Sustainer!' - and so we came to believe. O our Sustainer! Forgive us, then, our sins, and efface our bad deeds; and let us die the death of the truly virtuous!

AS IT IS, whenever Our messages are conveyed to them in all their clarity, those who are bent on denying the truth are wont to say unto those who have attained to faith: "Which of the two kinds of man* is in a stronger position and superior as a community?"*

Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another,

“And, O my people, I fear for you [the coming of] that Day of [Judgment - the Day when you will be] calling unto one another [in distress] –

Must you indeed approach men [with lust], and thus cut across the way [of nature]?* and must you commit these shameful deeds in your open] assemblies?" But his people's only answer was, “Bring down upon us God's chastisement, if thou art a man of truth!"

and then let him summon [to his aid] the counsels of his own [spurious] wisdom,*

And so, the parable of those who re bent on denying the truth is that of the beast which hears the shepherd's cry, and hears in it nothing but the sound of a voice and a call.* Deaf are they, and dumb, and blind: for they do not use their reason.

When he called out to his Sustainer in the secrecy of his heart,*

Thereupon, as he stood praying in the sanctuary, the angels called out unto him: "God sends thee the glad tiding of [the birth of] John, who shall confirm the truth of a word from God,* and [shall be] outstanding among men, and utterly chaste, and a prophet from among the righteous."

"O our Sustainer! Behold, we heard a voice* call [us] unto faith, `Believe in your Sustainer!' - and so we came to believe. O our Sustainer! Forgive us, then, our sins, and efface our bad deeds; and let us die the death of the truly virtuous!

for, when you call to prayer, they mock at it and make a jest of it-simply because they are people who do not use their reason.

-and thus he led them on with deluding thoughts. But as soon as the two had tasted [the fruit] of the tree, they became conscious of their nakedness; and they began to cover themselves with pieced-together leaves from the garden. And their Sustainer called unto them: "Did I not forbid that tree unto you and tell you, `Verily, Satan is your open foe'?"

after We shall have removed whatever unworthy thoughts or feelings may have been [lingering] in their bosoms. Running waters will flow at their feet;* and they will say: "All praise is due to God, who has guided us unto this; for we would certainly not have found the right path unless God had guided us! Indeed, our Sustainer's apostles have told us the truth!" And [a voice] will call out unto them: "This is the paradise which you have inherited by virtue of your past deeds!"

And the inmates of paradise will call out to the inmates of the fire: "Now we have found that what our Sustainer promised us has come true; have you. too, found that what your Sustainer promised you has come true?" [The others] will answer, "Yes!"-whereupon from their midst a voice* will loudly proclaim: "God's rejection is the due of the evildoers

And between the two there will be a barrier.* And there will be persons who [in life] were endowed with the faculty of discernment [between right and wrong], recognizing each by its mark.* And they will call out unto the inmates of paradise, "Peace be upon you!"-not having entered it themselves, but longing [for it].

And they who [in life] had possessed this faculty of discernment will call out to those whom they recognize by their marks [as sinners], saying: "What has your amassing [of wealth] availed you, and all the false pride of your past?

And the inmates of the fire will call out unto the inmates of paradise: "Pour some water upon us, or some of the sustenance [of paradise] which God has provided for you!" [The inmates of paradise] will reply: "Verily, God has denied both to those who have denied the truth -

And it moved on with them into waves that were like mountains. At that [moment] Noah cried out to a son of his, who had kept himself aloof [from the others]: "O my dear son!* Embark with us, and remain not with those who deny the truth!"

And Noah called out to his Sustainer, and said: "O my Sustainer! Verily, my son was of my family;* and, verily, Thy promise always comes true, and Thou art the most just of all judges!"

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.*

When he called out to his Sustainer in the secrecy of his heart,*

Thereupon [a voice] called out to her from beneath that [palm-tree]:* "Grieve not! Thy Sustainer has provided a rivulet [running] beneath thee;

And [remember how] We called upon him from the right-hand slope of Mount Sinai* and drew him near [unto Us] in mystic communion,

But when he came close to it, a voice called out:* "O Moses!

AND [remember] Noah - [how,] when He called out [unto Us], long before [the time of Abraham and Lot], We responded to him and saved him and his house­hold from that awesome calamity;*

AND [remember] Job, when he cried out to his Sus­tainer, “Affliction has befallen me: but Thou art the most merciful of the merciful!"*

AND [remember] him of the great fish* when he went off in wrath, thinking that We had no power over him!* But then heeded out in the deep darkness [of his distress]: “There is no deity save Thee! Limit­less art Thou in Thy glory! Verily, I have done wrong!"*

AND [thus did We deliver] Zachariah when he cried out unto his Sustainer: “O my Sustainer! Leave me not childless! But [even if Thou grant me no bodily heir, I know that] Thou wilt remain when all else has ceased to be!"*

HENCE, [remember how it was] when thy Sustainer summoned Moses: “Go unto those evil doing people.

But when he came close to it, a call was sounded: “Blessed are all who are within [reach of] this fire, and all who are near it!* And limitless in His glory is God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!"

But when he came close to it, a call was sounded from the right-side bank of the valley, out of the tree [burning] on blessed ground:* “O Moses! Verily, I am God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!"

And neither wert thou present on the slope of Mount Sinai when We called out [to Moses]:* but [thou, too, art sent] as an act of thy Sustainer's grace, to warn people to whom no warner has come before thee, so that they might bethink themselves [of Us];

For, on that Day He will call unto them, and will ask: “Where, now, are those [beings or powers] whom you imagined to have a share in My divinity?"*

And on that Day He will call unto them, and will ask: “How did you respond to My message­ bearers?"*

AND ON THAT DAY* He will call unto those [that shall have been arraigned before His judgment seat], and will ask: “Where, now, are those [beings or powers] whom you imagined to have a share in My divinity?"*

And, indeed, [it was for this reason that] Noah cried unto Us - and how excellent was Our response:

We called out to him: “O Abraham,

How many a generation have We destroyed before their time [for this very sin]!* And [how] they called [unto Us] when it was too late to escape!*

AND CALL to mind Our servant Job,* [how it was] when he cried out to his Sustainer, “Behold, Satan has afflicted me with [utter] weariness and suffering!"*

[But,] behold, as for those who are bent on denying the truth - [on that same Day] a voice will call out unto them:* “Indeed, greater than your [present] loathing of yourselves* was God's loathing of you [at the time] when you were called unto faith but went on denying the truth!"*

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.*

In Him alone is vested the knowledge of when the Last Hour will come. And no fruit bursts forth from its calyx, and no female ever conceives, nor ever gives birth, save with His knowledge. And so, on the Day when He shall call out to them, “Where, now, are those [alleged] partners of Mine?" - they will [surely] answer, “We confess unto Thee that none of us can bear witness [to anyone's having a share in Thy divinity]!"

And Pharaoh issued a call to his people, say­ing: “O my people! Does not the dominion over Egypt belong to me, since all these running waters flow at my feet?* Can you not, then, see [that I am your lord supreme]?

And they will cry: “O thou [angel] who rulest [over hell]! Let thy Sustainer put an end to us!" - whereupon] he will reply: “Verily, you must live on [in this state]

Verily, [O Prophet,] as for those who call thee from without thy private apartments - most of them do not use their reason:*

And [always] listen for the day when He who issues the call [of death] shall call [thee] from close-by;*

But they summoned their [boldest] companion, and he ventured [upon the evil deed], and cruelly slaughtered [the animal]:*

They [who will remain without] will call out to those [within], “Were we not with you?" - [to which] the others will answer: “So it was! But you allowed yourselves to succumb to temptation,* and you were hesitant [in your faith],* and you were doubtful [of resurrection]; and your wishful thinking beguiled you until God's command came to pass:* for, [indeed, your own] deceptive thoughts about God deluded you*

O YOU who have attained to faith! When the call to prayer is sounded on the day of congregation,* hasten to the remembrance of God, and leave all worldly commerce: this is for your own good, if you but knew it.

BEAR THEN with patience thy Sustainer's will and be not like him of the great fish, who cried out [in distress] after having given in to anger.*

Lo! His Sustainer called out to him in the twice-hallowed valley:*

and then he gathered [his great ones], and called [unto his people],