CONSIDER these [messages] ranged in serried ranks, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and restraining [from evil] by a call to restraint, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and conveying [to all the world] a reminder: (asad) Audio   ⟶

Verily, most surely, your God is One – (asad) Audio   ⟶

the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and of all that is between them, and the Sustainer of all the points of sunrise! (asad) Audio   ⟶

Behold, We have adorned the skies nearest to the earth with the beauty of stars, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and have made them secure against every rebellious, satanic force, (asad) Audio   ⟶

[so that] they [who seek to learn the unknowable] should not be able to overhear the host on high, but shall be repelled from all sides, (asad) Audio   ⟶

cast out [from all grace], with lasting suffering in store for them [in the life to come]; (asad) Audio   ⟶

but if anyone does succeed in snatching a glimpse [of such knowledge], he is [henceforth] pursued by a piercing flame. (asad) Audio   ⟶

AND NOW ask those [who deny the truth] to enlight­en thee: Were they more difficult to create than all those [untold marvels] that We have created? - for, behold, them have We created out of [mere] clay commingled with water! (asad) Audio   ⟶

Nay, but whereas thou dost marvel, they [only] scoff; (asad) Audio   ⟶

and when they are reminded [of the truth], they refuse to take it to heart; (asad) Audio   ⟶

and when they become aware of a [divine] message, they turn it to ridicule (asad) Audio   ⟶

and say: “This is clearly nothing but [a mortal’s] spellbinding eloquence! (asad) Audio   ⟶

Why - after we have died and become mere dust and bones, shall we, forsooth, be raised from the dead? – (asad) Audio   ⟶

and perhaps also our forebears of old?” (asad) Audio   ⟶

Say: “Yea, indeed - and most abject will you then be!” – (asad) Audio   ⟶

for that [resurrection which they deride] will be [upon them of a sudden, as if it were] but a single accusing cry - and then, lo! they will begin to see [the truth] (asad) Audio   ⟶

and will say: “Oh, woe unto us! This is the Day of Judgment!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

[And they will be told:] “This is the Day of Distinction [between the true and the false - the Day] which you were wont to call a lie!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

[And God will thus command:] “Assemble all those who were bent on evildoing, together with others of their ilk and [with] all that they were wont to worship (asad) Audio   ⟶

instead of God, and lead them all onto the way to the blazing fire, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and halt them [there]!” [And then,] behold, they shall be asked, (asad) Audio   ⟶

“How is it that [now] you cannot succour one another?” (asad) Audio   ⟶

Nay, but on that Day they would willingly surrender [to God]; (asad) Audio   ⟶

but [since it will be too late,] they will turn upon one another, demanding of each other [to relieve them of the burden of their past sins]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Some [of them] will say: “Behold, you were wont to approach us [deceptively] from the right!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

[To which] the others will reply: “Nay, you yourselves were bereft of all faith! (asad) Audio   ⟶

Moreover, we had no power at all over you: nay, you were people filled with overweening arrogance! (asad) Audio   ⟶

But now our Sustainer’s word has come true against us [as well]: verily, we are bound to taste [the fruit of our sins]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

So then, [if it be true that] we have caused you to err grievously - behold, we ourselves had been lost in grievous error!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

And, verily, on that Day they all will share in their common suffering. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Verily, thus shall We deal with all who were lost in sin: (asad) Audio   ⟶

for, behold, whenever they were told, “There is no deity save God,” they would glory in their arrogance (asad) Audio   ⟶

and would say, “Shall we, then, give up our deities at the bidding of a mad poet?” (asad) Audio   ⟶

Nay, but he [whom you call a mad poet] has brought the truth; and he confirms the truth of [what the earlier of God’s] message-bearers [have taught]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Behold, you will indeed taste grievous suffering [in the life to come], (asad) Audio   ⟶

although you shall not be requited for aught but what you were wont to do. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Not so, however, God’s true servants: (asad) Audio   ⟶

[in the hereafter,] theirs shall be a sustenance which they will recognize (asad) Audio   ⟶

as the fruits [of their life on earth]; and honoured shall they be (asad) Audio   ⟶

in gardens of bliss, (asad) Audio   ⟶

facing one another [in love] upon thrones of happiness. (asad) Audio   ⟶

A cup will be passed round among them [with a drink] from unsullied springs, (asad) Audio   ⟶

clear, delightful to those who drink it: (asad) Audio   ⟶

no headiness will be in it, and they will not get drunk thereon. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And with them will be mates of modest gaze, most beautiful of eye, (asad) Audio   ⟶

[as free of faults] as if they were hidden [ostrich] eggs. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And they will all turn to one another, asking each other [about their past lives]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

One of them speaks thus: “Behold, I had [on earth] a close companion (asad) Audio   ⟶

who was wont to ask [me], ‘Why - art thou really one of those who believe it to be true (asad) Audio   ⟶

[that] after we have died and become mere dust and bones we shall, forsooth, be brought to judgment?”’ (asad) Audio   ⟶

[And] he adds: “Would you like to look [and see him]?” – (asad) Audio   ⟶

and then he looks and sees that [companion of his] in the midst of the blazing fire, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and says: “By God! Verily, thou hast almost destroyed me [too, O my erstwhile companion] (asad) Audio   ⟶

for had it not been for my Sustainer’s favour, I would surely be [now] among those who are given over [to suffering]! (asad) Audio   ⟶

But then, [O my friends in paradise,] is it [really] so that we are not to die (asad) Audio   ⟶

[again,] beyond our previous death, and that we shall never [again] be made to suffer? (asad) Audio   ⟶

Verily, this - this indeed - is the triumph supreme!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

For the like of this, then, let them labour, those who labour [in God’s way]! (asad) Audio   ⟶

Is such [a paradise] the better welcome - or the [hellish] tree of deadly fruit? (asad) Audio   ⟶

Verily, We have caused it to be a trial for evildoers: (asad) Audio   ⟶

for, behold, it is a tree that grows in the very heart of the blazing fire [of hell], (asad) Audio   ⟶

its fruit [as repulsive] as satans’ heads; (asad) Audio   ⟶

and they [who are lost in evil] are indeed bound to eat thereof, and to fill their bellies therewith. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And, behold, above all this they will be confounded with burning des­pair! (asad) Audio   ⟶

And once again: Verily, the blazing fire is their ultimate goal – (asad) Audio   ⟶

for, behold, they found their forebears on a wrong way, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and [now] they make haste to follow in their footsteps! (asad) Audio   ⟶

Thus, indeed, most of the people of old went astray before them, (asad) Audio   ⟶

although, verily, We had sent warners unto them: (asad) Audio   ⟶

and behold what happened in the end to those that had been warned [to no avail]! (asad) Audio   ⟶

EXCEPT for God’s true servants, [most people are apt to go astray.] (asad) Audio   ⟶

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

for We saved him and his household from that awesome calamity, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and caused his offspring to endure [on earth]; (asad) Audio   ⟶

and We left him thus to be remembered among later generations: (asad) Audio   ⟶

“Peace be upon Noah throughout all the worlds!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

Verily, thus do We reward the doers of good – (asad) Audio   ⟶

for he was truly one of our believing servants: (asad) Audio   ⟶

[and so We saved him and those who followed him] and then We caused the others to drown. (asad) Audio   ⟶

AND, BEHOLD, of his persuasion was Abraham, too, (asad) Audio   ⟶

when he turned to his Sustainer with a heart free of evil, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and [thus] spoke to his father and his people: “What is it that you worship? (asad) Audio   ⟶

Do you want [to bow down before] a lie - [before] deities other than God? (asad) Audio   ⟶

What, then, do you think of the Sustainer of all the worlds?” (asad) Audio   ⟶

Then he cast a glance at the stars, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and said, “Verily, I am sick [at heart]!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

and at that they turned their backs on him and went away. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Thereupon he approached their gods stealthily and said, “What! You do not eat [of the offerings placed before you]? (asad) Audio   ⟶

What is amiss with you that you do not speak?” (asad) Audio   ⟶

And then he fell upon them, smiting them with his right hand. (asad) Audio   ⟶

[But] then the others came towards him hur­riedly [and accused him of his deed]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

He answered: “Do you worship something that you [yourselves] have carved, (asad) Audio   ⟶

the while it is God who has created you and all your handiwork?” (asad) Audio   ⟶

They exclaimed: “Build a pyre for him, and cast him into the blazing fire!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

But whereas they sought to do evil unto him, We [frustrated their designs, and thus] brought them low? (asad) Audio   ⟶

And [Abraham] said: “Verily, I shall [leave this land and] go wherever my Sustainer will guide me!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

[And he prayed:] “O my Sustainer! Bestow upon me the gift of [a son who shall be] one of the righteous!” – (asad) Audio   ⟶

whereupon We gave him the glad tiding of a boy-child gentle [like himself]? (asad) Audio   ⟶

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!” (asad) Audio   ⟶