BE CONSTANT in [thy] prayer from the time when the sun has passed its zenith till the darkness of night, and [be ever mindful of its] recitation at dawn: for, behold, the recitation [of prayer] at dawn is indeed witnessed [by all that is holy]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

O YOU who have attained to faith! At three times [of day], let [even] those whom you rightfully pos­sess, as well as those from among you who have not yet attained to puberty, ask leave of you [before intruding upon your privacy]: before the prayer of daybreak, and whenever you lay aside your garments in the middle of the day, and after the prayer of nightfall: the three occasions on which your nakedness is likely to be bared. Beyond these [occasions], neither you nor they will incur any sin if they move [freely] about you, attending to [the needs of] one another. In this way God makes clear unto you His mes­sages: for God is all-knowing, wise! (asad) Audio   ⟶

And be constant in praying at the beginning and the end of the day, as well as during the early watches of the night: for, verily, good deeds drive away evil deeds: this is a reminder to all who bear [God] in mind. (asad) Audio   ⟶

and bear in mind thy Sustainer's name at morn and evening (asad) Audio   ⟶

IN THE HOUSES [of worship] which God has allowed to be raised so that His name be remembered in them, there [are such as] extol His limitless glory at morn and evening – (asad) Audio   ⟶

EXTOL, then, God’s limitless glory when you enter upon the evening hours, and when you rise at morn; (asad) Audio   ⟶

and would pray for forgiveness from their innermost hearts; (asad) Audio   ⟶

And rise from thy sleep and pray during part of the night [as well], as a free offering from thee, and thy Sustainer may well raise thee to a glorious station [in the life to come]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And seek aid in steadfast patience and prayer: and this, indeed, is a hard thing for all but the humble in spirit, (asad) Audio   ⟶

BE EVER mindful of prayers, and of praying in the most excellent way; and stand before God in devout obedience. (asad) Audio   ⟶

But if you are in danger, [pray] walking or riding; and when you are again secure, bear God in mind - since it is He who taught you what you did not previously know. (asad) Audio   ⟶

O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not attempt to pray while you are in a state of drunkenness, [but wait] until you know what you are saying; nor yet [while you are] in a state requiring total ablution, until you have bathed - except if you are travelling [and are unable to do so]. But if you are ill, or are travelling, or have just satisfied a want of nature, or have cohabited with a woman, and can find no water - then take resort to pure dust, passing [there­with] lightly over your face and your hands. Behold, God is indeed an absolver of sins, much-forgiving. (asad) Audio   ⟶

AND WHEN you go forth [to war] on earth, you will incur no sin by shortening your prayers if you have reason to fear that those who are bent on denying the truth might suddenly fall upon you: for, verily, those who deny the truth are your open foes. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Thus, when thou art among the believers and about to lead them in prayer, let [only] part of them stand up with thee, retaining their arms. Then, after they have finished their prayer, let them provide you cover while another group, who have not yet prayed, shall come forward and pray with thee, being fully prepared against danger and retaining their arms: (for) those who are bent on denying the truth would love to see you oblivious of your arms and your equipment, so that they might fall upon you in a surprise attack. But it shall not be wrong for you to lay down your arms [while you pray] if you are troubled by rain or if you are ill; but [always] be fully prepared against danger. Verily, God has readied shameful suffering for all who deny the truth! (asad) Audio   ⟶

And when you have finished your prayer, remember God - standing and sitting and lying down; and when you are once again secure, observe your prayers [fully]. Verily, for all believers prayer is indeed a sacred duty linked to particular times [of day]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

O CHILDREN of Adam! Beautify yourselves for every act of worship, and eat and drink [freely], but do not waste: verily, He does not love the wasteful! (asad) Audio   ⟶

[Hence, O Prophet,] accept that [part] of their possessions which is offered for the sake of God, so that thou mayest cleanse them thereby and cause them to grow in purity, and pray for them: behold, thy prayer will be [a source of] comfort to them-for God is all-hearing, all-knowing. (asad) Audio   ⟶

[It is a triumph of] those who turn [unto God] in repentance [whenever they have sinned], and who worship and praise [Him], and go on and on [seeking His goodly acceptance], and bow down [before Him] and prostrate themselves in adoration, and enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and keep to the bounds set by God. And give thou [O Prophet] the glad tiding [of God's promise] to all believers. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And Abraham's prayer that his father be forgiven was but due to a promise which he had given the latter [in his lifetime]; but when it was made clear unto him that he had been God's enemy, [Abraham] disavowed him - [although;] behold, Abraham was most tender-hearted. most clement. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Unto Him [alone] is due all prayer aiming at the Ultimate Truth, since those [other beings or powers] whom men invoke instead of God cannot respond to them in any way - [so that he who invokes them is] but like one who stretches his open hands towards water, [hoping] that it will reach his mouth, the while it never reaches him. Hence, the prayer of those who deny the truth amounts to no more than losing oneself in grievous error. (asad) Audio   ⟶

'O our Sustainer! Behold, I have settled some of my offspring in a valley in which there is no arable land, close to Thy sanctified Temple, so that, O our Sustainer, they might devote themselves to prayer: cause Thou, therefore, people's hearts to incline towards them and grant them fruitful sustenance, so that they might have cause to be grateful. (asad) Audio   ⟶

'All praise is due to God, who has bestowed upon me, in my old age, Ishmael and Isaac! Behold, my Sustainer hears indeed all prayer: (asad) Audio   ⟶

[hence,] O my Sustainer, cause me and [some] of my offspring to remain constant in prayer! 'And, O our Sustainer, accept this my prayer: (asad) Audio   ⟶

As it is, man [often] prays for things that are bad as if he were praying for something that is good: for man is prone to be hasty [in his judgments]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

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; (asad) Audio   ⟶

For, when We assigned unto Abraham the site of this Temple, [We said unto him:] “Do not ascribe divinity to aught beside Me!” and: “Purify My Temple for those who will walk around it, and those who will stand before it [in meditation], and those who will bow down and prostrate themselves [in prayer].” (asad) Audio   ⟶

and who remember their Sustainer far into the night, prostrating themselves and standing; (asad) Audio   ⟶

CONVEY [unto others] whatever of this divine writ has been revealed unto thee, and be constant in prayer: for, behold, prayer restrains [man] from loathsome deeds and from all that runs counter to reason; and remembrance of God is indeed the greatest [good]. And God knows all that you do. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Or [dost thou deem thyself equal to] one who devoutly worships [God] throughout the night, prostrating himself or standing [in prayer], ever- mindful of the life to come, and hoping for his Sustainer’s grace?” Say: “Can they who know and they who do not know be deemed equal?” [But] only they who are endowed with insight keep this in mind! (asad) Audio   ⟶

And, too, when We bestow Our blessings upon man, he tends to turn aside and keep aloof [from remembering Us]; but as soon as evil fortune touches him, he is full of wordy prayers! (asad) Audio   ⟶

and in the night, too, extol His glory, and at every prayer’s end. (asad) Audio   ⟶

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. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Not so, however, those who consciously turn towards God in prayer. (asad) Audio   ⟶

[and] who incessantly persevere in their prayer (asad) Audio   ⟶

Yet [thus it is] that whenever a servant of God stands up in prayer to Him, they [who are bent on denying the truth] would gladly overwhelm him with their crowds. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Keep awake [in prayer] at night, all but a small part (asad) Audio   ⟶

Woe, then, unto those praying ones (asad) Audio   ⟶

whose hearts from their prayer are remote (asad) Audio   ⟶

Thereupon he came out of the sanctuary unto his people and signified to them [by gestures]: 'Extol His limitless glory by day and by night!' (asad) Audio   ⟶

those who are patient in adversity, and true to their word, and truly devout, and who spend [in God's way], and pray for forgiveness from their innermost hearts. (asad) Audio   ⟶

[Zachariah] prayed: 'O my Sustainer! Appoint a sign for me!' Said [the angel]: 'Thy sign shall be that for three days thou wilt not speak unto men other than by gestures. And remember thy Sustainer unceasingly, and extol His limitless glory by night and by day.' (asad) Audio   ⟶

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. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Who believe in [the existence of] that which is beyond the reach of human perception, and are constant in prayer, and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance; (asad) Audio   ⟶

And some of the followers of earlier revelation say [to one another]: 'Declare your belief in what has been revealed unto those who believe [in Muhammad] at the beginning of the day, and deny the truth of what came later, so that they might go back [on their faith]; (asad) Audio   ⟶

AND [remember, O Prophet, the day] when thou didst set out from thy home at early morn to place the believers in battle array. And God was all-hearing, all-knowing (asad) Audio   ⟶

Thereupon God sent forth a raven which scratched the earth, to show him how he might conceal the nakedness of his brother's body. [And Cain] cried out: 'Oh, woe is me! Am I then too weak to do what this raven did, and to conceal the nakedness of my brother's body?' - and was thereupon smitten with remorse. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Hence, repulse not [any of] those who at morn and evening invoke their Sustainer, seeking His countenance. Thou art in no wise accountable for them-just as they are in no wise accountable for thee -and thou hast therefore no right to repulse them: for then thou wouldst be among the evildoers. (asad) Audio   ⟶

[He is] the One who causes the dawn to break; and He has made the night to be [a source of] stillness, and the sun and the moon to run their appointed courses: [all] this is laid down by the will of the Almighty, the All-Knowing. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Thereupon an earthquake overtook them: and then they lay lifeless, in their very homes, on the ground. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Thereupon an earthquake overtook them: and then they lay lifeless, in their very homes, on the ground - (asad) Audio   ⟶

Why, can the people of any community ever feel secure that Our punishment will not come upon them in broad daylight, while they are engaged in (worldly] play? (asad) Audio   ⟶

And the blast [of God's punishment] overtook those who had been bent on evildoing: and then they lay lifeless, in their very homes, on the ground, (asad) Audio   ⟶

[Whereupon the angels] said: 'O Lot! Behold, we are messengers from thy Sustainer! Never shall [thy enemies] attain to thee! Depart, then, with thy household while it is yet night, and let none of you look back; [and take with thee all thy family] with the exception of thy wife: for, behold, that which is to befall these [people of Sodom] shall befall her [as well]. Verily, their appointed time is the morning [and] is not the morning nigh?' (asad) Audio   ⟶

And so, when Our judgment came to pass, by Our grace We saved Shu'ayb and those who shared his faith, whereas the blast [of Our punishment] overtook those who had been bent on evildoing: and then they lay lifeless, in their very homes, on the ground, (asad) Audio   ⟶

And before God prostrate themselves, willingly or unwillingly, all [things and beings] that are in the heavens and on earth, as do their shadows in the mornings and the evenings. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And [through Our messengers] We revealed unto him this decree: 'The last remnant of those [sinners] shall be wiped out' in the morn.' (asad) Audio   ⟶

and so the blast [of Our punishment] overtook them at early morn, (asad) Audio   ⟶

and you find beauty in them when you drive them home in the evenings and when you take them out to pasture in the mornings. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And contain thyself in patience by the side of all who at morn and at evening invoke their Sustainer, seeking His countenance, and let not thine eyes pass beyond them in quest of the beauties of this world's life; and pay no heed to any whose heart We have rendered heedless of all remembrance of Us because he had always followed [only] his own desires, abandoning all that is good and true. (asad) Audio   ⟶

yet it may well be that my Sustainer will give me something better than thy garden -just as He may let loose a calamity out of heaven upon this [thy garden], so that it becomes a heap of barren dust (asad) Audio   ⟶

or its water sinks deep into the ground, so that thou wilt never be able to find it again!' (asad) Audio   ⟶

And [thus it happened:] his fruitful gardens were encompassed [by ruin], and there he was, wringing his hands over all that he had spent on that which now lay waste, with its trellises caved in; and he could but say, 'Oh, would that I had not attributed divine powers to any but my Sustainer!' (asad) Audio   ⟶

AND PROPOUND unto them the parable of the life of this world: [it is] like the water which We send down from the skies, and which is absorbed by the plants of the earth: but [in time] they turn into dry . stubble which the winds blow freely about. And it is God [alone] who determines all things. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And after the two had walked some distance, [Moses] said to his servant: 'Bring us our mid-day meal; we have indeed suffered hardship on this [day of] our journey!' (asad) Audio   ⟶

No empty talk will they hear there-nothing but [tidings of] inner soundness and peace; and there will they have their sustenance by day and by night: (asad) Audio   ⟶

Answered [Moses]: 'Your tryst shall be the day of the Festival ; and let the people assemble when the sun is risen high.' (asad) Audio   ⟶

Art thou not aware that it’s God who sends down water from the skies, whereupon the earth becomes green? Verily, God is unfathomable [in His wisdom], all-aware. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And they say, “Fables of ancient times which he has caused to be written down, so that they might be read out to him at morn and evening!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

But they cruelly slaughtered her - and then they had cause to regret it: (asad) Audio   ⟶

On the morrow, however, an aching void grew up in the heart of the mother of Moses, and she would indeed have disclosed all about him had We not endowed her heart with enough strength to keep alive her faith [in Our promise]. (asad) Audio   ⟶

And next morning he found himself in the city, looking fearfully about him, when lo! the one who had sought his help the day before [once again] cried out to him [for help whereupon] Moses said unto him: “Behold, thou art indeed, most clearly, deeply in the wrong! (asad) Audio   ⟶

And on the morrow, those who but yesterday had longed to be in his place exclaimed: “Alas [for our not having been aware] that it is indeed God [alone] who grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whichever He wills of His crea­tures! Had not God been gracious to us, He might have caused [the earth] to swallow us, too! Alas [for our having forgotten] that those who deny the truth can never attain to a happy state!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

But they gave him the lie. Thereupon an earthquake overtook them: and then they lay lifeless, in their very homes, on the ground. (asad) Audio   ⟶

and extol His limitless glory from morn to evening. (asad) Audio   ⟶

AND UNTO Solomon [We made subservient] the wind: its morning course [covered the distance of] a month’s journey, and its evening course, a month’s journey. And We caused a fountain of molten copper to flow at his behest; and [even] among the invisible beings there were some that had [been constrained] to labour for him by his Sustainer’s leave and whichever of them deviated from Our command, him would We let taste suffering through a blazing flame -: (asad) Audio   ⟶

and, verily, [to this day] you pass by the remnants of their dwellings at morning-time (asad) Audio   ⟶

But then, once it alights upon them, hapless will be the awakening of those who were warned [to no avail]! (asad) Audio   ⟶

the fire [of the hereafter - that fire] which they had been made to contemplate [in vain], morning and evening: for on the Day when the Last Hour dawns [God will say], “Make Phar­aoh’s folk enter upon suffering most severe!” (asad) Audio   ⟶

hence, remain thou patient in adversity - for, verily, God’s promise always comes true - and ask forgiveness for thy sins, and extol thy Sustainer’s glory and praise by night and by day. (asad) Audio   ⟶

bound to destroy everything at its Sustainer’s behest!” And then they were so utterly wiped out that nothing could be seen save their [empty] dwellings: thus do We requite people lost in sin. (asad) Audio   ⟶

so that you [O men] might believe in God and His Apostle, and might honour Him, and revere Him, and extol His limitless glory from morn to evening. (asad) Audio   ⟶

[and so,] behold, We let loose upon them a deadly tempest; and only Lot ’s kinsfolk did We save at the break of dawn, (asad) Audio   ⟶

And, indeed, abiding suffering did befall them early on the morrow: (asad) Audio   ⟶

Say [unto those who deny the truth]: 'What do you think? If of a sudden all your water were to vanish underground, who [but God] could provide you with water from [new] unsullied springs?' (asad) Audio   ⟶

[As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, (asad) Audio   ⟶

so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. (asad) Audio   ⟶

Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, (asad) Audio   ⟶

'Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!' (asad) Audio   ⟶