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."*

But as for those who care for the [good of the] life to come, and strive for it as it ought to be striven for, and are [true] believers withal* -they are the ones whose striving finds favour [with God]!

"[It is] they whose labour has gone astray in [the pursuit of no more than] this world's life, and who none the less think that they are doing good works:

And yet, whoever does [the least] of righteous deeds and is a believer withal, his endeavour shall not be disowned: for, behold, We shall record it in his favour.*

And [one day,] when [the child] had become old enough to share in his [father's] endeavours,* the latter said: “O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee: consider, then, what would be thy view!" [Ishmael] answered: “O my father! Do as thou art bidden: thou wilt find me, if God so wills, among those who are patient in adversity!"

and that in time [the nature of] all his striving will be shown [to him in its true light],*

[And they will be told:] "Verily, all this is your reward since Your endeavour [in life] has met [God's] goodly acceptance!"

well-pleased with [the fruit of] their striving,

Verily, [O men,] you aim at most divergent ends!*

Hence, who could be more wicked than those who bar the mention of God's name from [any of] His houses of worship and strive for their ruin, [although] they have no right to enter them save in fear [of God]?* For them, in this world, there is ignominy in store; and for them, in the life to come, awesome suffering.

But whenever he prevails, he goes about the earth spreading corruption and destroying [man's] tilth and progeny:* and God does not love corruption.

It is but a just recompense for those who make war on God and His apostle,* and endeavour to spread corruption on earth, that they are being slain in great' numbers, or crucified in great numbers, or have, in l' result of their perverseness, their hands and feet cut off in great numbers,* or are being [entirely] banished from [the face of] the earth: such is their ignominy in this world .* But in the life to come [yet more] awesome suffering awaits them-

And the Jews say, "God's hand is shackled!" It is their own hands that are shackled; and rejected [by God] are they because of this their assertion.* Nay, but wide are His hands stretched out: He dispenses [bounty] as He wills. But all that has been bestowed from on high upon thee [O Prophet] by thy Sustainer is bound to make many of them yet more stubborn in their overweening arrogance and in their denial of the truth. And so We have cast enmity and hatred among the followers of the Bible ,* [to last] until Resurrection Day; every time they light the fires of war, God extinguishes them ;* and they labour hard to spread corruption on earth: and God does not -love the spreaders of corruption.

But as for those who care for the [good of the] life to come, and strive for it as it ought to be striven for, and are [true] believers withal* -they are the ones whose striving finds favour [with God]!

"Behold, [although] I have willed to keep it* hidden, the Last Hour is bound to come, so that every human being may be recompensed in accordance with what he strove for [in life].*

So he threw it - and lo! it was a snake, moving rapidly.

He answered: "Nay, you throw [first]." And lo! by virtue of their sorcery, their [magic] ropes and staffs seemed to him to be moving rapidly:

whereas those who strive against Our messages, seeking to defeat their purpose - they are destined for the blazing fire.

And [then and there] a man came running from the farthermost end of the city, and said: “O Moses! Behold, the great ones [of the kingdom] are deli­berating upon thy case with a view to killing thee! Begone, then: verily, I am of those who wish thee well!"

whereas for those who strive against Our messages, seeking to defeat their purpose, there is grievous suffering in store as an outcome of [their] vileness.*

whereas all who strive against Our messages, seeking to defeat their purpose, shall be given over to suffering.

At that, a man came running from the farthest end of the city, [and] exclaimed: “O my people! Follow these message-bearers!

and that nought shall be accounted unto man but what he is striving for;*

on the Day when thou shalt see all believing men and believing women, with their light spreading rapidly before them and on their right,* [and with this wel­come awaiting them:] “A glad tiding for you today: gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide! This, this is the triumph supreme!"

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.

O you who have attained to faith! Turn unto God in sincere repentance:* it may well be .that your Sustainer will efface from you your bad deeds, and will admit you into gardens through which running waters flow, on a Day on which God will not shame the Prophet and those who share his faith:* their light will spread rapidly before them, and on their right;* [and] they will pray: "O our Sustainer! Cause this our light to shine for us forever,* and forgive us our sins: for, verily, Thou hast the power to will anything!"

and brusquely turned his back [on Moses];

on that Day man will [clearly] remember all that he has ever wrought;

but as for him who came unto thee full of eagerness