Does it seem strange to people that We should have revealed to a man from among themselves, directing him to warn the people (who lie engrossed in heedlessness); and to give good news to the believers that they shall enjoy true honour and an exalted status with their Lord? (Is this so strange that) the deniers of the truth should say: 'This man is indeed an evident sorcerer'?
Surely your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then established Himself on the Throne (of His Dominion), governing all affairs of the universe. None may intercede with Him except after obtaining His leave. Such is Allah, your Lord; do therefore serve Him. Will you not take heed?
To Him is your return. This is Allah's promise that will certainly come true. Surely it is He Who brings about the creation of all and He will repeat it so that He may justly reward those who believe and do righteous deeds; and that those who disbelieve may have a draught of boiling water and suffer a painful chastisement for their denying the truth.
He it is Who gave the sun radiance and the moon light, and determined the stages (for the waxing and waning of the moon) that you may learn the calculation of years and the reckoning of time. Allah has created all this with a rightful purpose (rather than out of play). He expounds His signs for the people who know.
Surely in the alternation of the night and the day and in all that Allah has created in the heavens and the earth there are signs for the people who seek to avoid (error of outlook and conduct).
Surely those who believe (in the truths revealed in the Book) and do righteous deeds their Lord will guide them aright because of their faith. Rivers shall flow beneath them in the Gardens of Bliss.
Their cry in it will be: 'Glory be to You, Our Lord!', and their greeting: 'Peace!'; and their cry will always end with: 'All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe.
Were Allah to hasten to bring upon men (the consequence of) evil in the way men hasten in seeking the wealth of this world, their term would have long since expired. (But that is not Our way.) So We leave alone those who do not expect to meet Us that they may blindly stumble in their transgression.
And (such is man that) when an affliction befalls him, he cries out to Us, reclining and sitting and standing. But no sooner than We have removed his affliction, he passes on as though he had never cried out to Us to remove his affliction. Thus it is that the misdeeds of the transgressors are made fair-seeming to them.
Surely We destroyed the nations (which had risen to heights of glory in their times) before you when they indulged in wrong-doing and refused to believe even when their Messengers brought clear signs to them. Thus do We recompense the people who are guilty.
And whenever Our clear revelations are recited to them, those who do not expect to meet Us say: 'Bring us a Qur'an other than this one, or at least make changes in it. Tell them (O Muhammad): 'It is not for me to change it of my accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. Were I to disobey my Lord, I fear the chastisement of an Awesome Day.
Tell them: 'Had Allah so willed, I would not have recited the Qur'an to you, nor would Allah have informed you of it. I have spent a lifetime among you before this. Do you, then, not use your reason?
They worship, beside Allah, those who can neither harm nor profit them, saying; 'These are our intercessors with Allah.' Tell them (O Muhammad): 'Do you inform Allah of something regarding whose existence in the heavens or on the earth He has no knowledge? Holy is He and He is exalted far above what they associate with Him in His divinity'.
Once all men were but a single community; then they disagreed (and formulated different beliefs and rites). Had it not been that your Lord had already so ordained, a decisive judgement would have been made regarding their disagreements.
They say: 'Why was a sign not sent down upon the prophet from His Lord? Tell (such people): 'The realm of the Unseen belongs to Allah. Wait, then; I shall wait along with you.
No sooner than We bestow mercy on a people after hardship has hit them than they begin to scheme against Our signs. Tell them: 'Allah is swifter in scheming. Our angels are recording all your intriguing.
He it is Who enables you to journey through the land and the sea. And so it happens that when you have boarded the ships and they set sail with a favourable wind, and the passengers rejoice at the pleasant voyage, then suddenly a fierce gale appears, and wave upon wave surges upon them from every side, and people believe that they are surrounded from all directions, and all of them cry out to Allah in full sincerity of faith: 'If You deliver us from this we shall surely be thankful.
But no sooner than He delivers them than they go about committing excesses on the earth, acting unjustly. Men! The excesses you commit will be of harm only to yourselves, (Enjoy, if you will) the fleeting pleasure of this world; in me end you shall all return to Us, and then We shall tell you what you did.
The example of the life of this world (which has enamoured you into becoming heedless to Our signs) is that of water that We sent down from the heaven which causes the vegetation of the earth, which sustains men and cattle, to grow luxuriantly. But when the earth took on its golden raiment and became well adorned and the owners believed that they had full control over their lands Our command came upon them by night or by day, and We convened it into a stubble, as though it had not blossomed yesterday. Thus do We expound the signs for a people who reflect.
For those who do good there is good reward and more besides; neither gloom nor humiliation shall cover their faces. They are the people of the Garden and in it they shall abide.
Those who do evil deeds, the recompense of an evil deed is its like, and humiliation shall spread over them and there will be none to protect them from Allah. Darkness will cover their faces as though they were veiled with the dark blackness of night. These are the people of the Fire and in it they shall abide.
And the Day when We shall muster them all together, We shall say to those who associated others with Allah in His divinity: 'Keep to your places - you and those whom you associated with Allah.' Then We shall remove the veil of foreignness separating them. Those whom they had associated with Allah will say. 'It was not us that you worshipped.
Thereupon everyone shall taste the recompense of his past deeds. All shall be sent back to Allah, their true Lord, and then all the falsehoods they had fabricated will have forsaken them.
Ask them: 'Who provides you with sustenance out of the heavens and the earth? Who holds mastery over your hearing and sight? Who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living? Who governs all affairs of the universe?' They will surely say: 'Allah.' Tell them: 'Will you, then, not shun (going against reality)?\"
Ask them: 'Is there any among those whom you associate with Allah in His divinity who brings about the creation of all beings in the first instance and will then repeat it?' Tell them: 'It is Allah Who brings about the creation of all beings and will then repeat it. How are you, then, being misled?
Ask them: 'Are there among ones whom you associate with Allah in His divinity those who can guide to the truth? Say: 'It is Allah alone Who guides to the truth.' Then, who is more worthy to be followed - He Who guides to the truth, or he who cannot find the right way unless others guide him to it? What is wrong with you? How ill do you judge!
And this Qur'an is such that it could not be composed by any unless it be revealed from Allah. It is a confirmation of the revelation made before it and a detailed exposition of the Book. Beyond doubt it is from the Lord of the universe.
Do they say that the Messenger has himself composed the Qur'an? Say: 'In that case bring forth just one surah like it and call on all whom you can, except Allah, to help you if you are truthful.
In fact they arbitrarily rejected as false whatever they failed to comprehend and whose final sequel was not apparent to them. Likewise had their predecessors rejected the truth, declaring it falsehood. Do observe, then, what was the end of the wrong-doers.
And if they reject you as false, tell them: 'My deeds are for myself and your deeds for yourselves. You will not be held responsible for my deeds, nor I for your deeds.
(But today they are oblivious of everything except enjoyment of worldly life.) And on the Day when He will muster all men together, they will feel as though they had been in the world no more than an hour of the day to get acquainted with one another. (It will then become evident that) those who called the lie to meeting with Allah were utter losers and were not rightly-directed. underlies this sharp remark is the faint hope that perhaps such people would be shaken out of their slumber.
Whether We let you see (during your lifetime) some of the chastisement with which We threaten them, or We call you unto Us (before the chastisement strikes them), in any case they are bound to return to Us. Allah is witness to all what they do.
A Messenger is sent to every people; and when their Messenger comes, the fate of that people is decided with full justice; they are subjected to no wrong.
Tell them: 'I have no power to harm or benefit even myself, except what Allah may will. There is an appointed term for every people; and when the end of their term comes, neither can they put it off for an hour, nor can they bring it an hour before.
Tell them: 'Did you consider (what you would do) were His chastisement to fall upon you suddenly by night or by day? So why are the culprits seeking to hasten its coming?
Is it only when this chastisement has actually overtaken you that you will believe in it? (And when the chastisement will surprise you), you will try to get away from it, although it is you who had sought to hasten its coming.'
They ask you if what you say is true? Tell them: 'Yes, by my Lord, this is altogether true, and you have no power to prevent the chastisement from befalling.'
If a wrong-doer had all that is in the earth he would surely offer it to ransom himself. When the wrong-doers perceive the chastisement, they will feel intense remorse in their hearts. But a judgement shall be made with full justice about them. They shall not be wronged.
Men! Now there has come to you an exhortation from your Lord, a healing for the ailments of the hearts, and a guidance and mercy for those who believe.
Tell them (O Prophet!): 'Let them rejoice in Allah's grace and mercy through which this (Book) has come to you. It is better than all the riches that they accumulate.
Did you consider that the sustenance which Allah had sent down for you of your own accord you have declared some of it as unlawful and some as lawful? Ask them: 'Did Allah bestow upon you any authority for this or do you forge lies against Allah?
(O Prophet!) Whatever you may be engaged in, whether you recite any portion of the Qur'an, or whatever else all of you are doing, We are witnesses to whatever you may be occupied with. Not even an atom's weight escapes your Lord on the earth or in the heaven, nor is there anything smaller or bigger than that, except that it is on record in a Clear Book.
Verily whoever dwells in the heavens or the earth belongs to Allah. Those who invoke others beside Allah, associating them with Him in His divinity, only follow conjectures and are merely guessing.
It is Allah alone Who has made the night that you may rest in it, and has made the day light-giving. Surely in that there are signs for those who give heed (to the call of the Messenger).
They say: 'Allah has taken a son. Glory be to Him. He is self-sufficient! His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. Have you any authority to support (that Allah has taken a son)? Do you ascribe to Allah something of which you have no knowledge?
They may enjoy the life of this world, but in the end they must return to Us, and then We shall cause them to taste severe chastisement for their disbelieving.'
And narrate to them the story of Noah when he said to his people: 'My people! If my living in your midst and my effort to shake you out of heedlessness by reciting to you the revelations of Allah offend you, then remember that I have put all my trust in Allah. So draw up your plan in concert with those whom you associate with Allah in His divinity, leaving no part of it obscure, and then put it into effect against me, and give me no respite.
When you turned your back on my admonition (what harm did you cause me?) I had asked of you no reward, for my reward lies only with Allah, and I am commanded to be of those who totally submit (to Allah)
But they rejected Noah, calling him a liar. So We saved him and those who were with him in the Ark, and made them successors (to the authority in the land), and drowned all those who had rejected Our signs as false. Consider, then, the fate of those who had been warned (and still did not believe).
Then We sent forth after him other Messengers, each one to his people. They brought to them clear signs, but they were not such as to believe in what they had rejected earlier as false. Thus do We seal the hearts of those who transgress.
Moses said: 'Do you say this about the truth after it has come to you? Is this sorcery? You call this sorcery although sorcerers never come to a happy end.
They replied: 'Have you come to turn us away from the way of our forefathers that the two of you might become supreme in the land? We shall never accept what the two of you say.'
Then when they had cast (their staffs), Moses said: 'What you have produced is sheer sorcery. Allah will certainly reduce it to naught. Surely Allah does not set right the work of the mischief-makers.
None but a few youths of Moses' people accepted him, fearing that Pharaoh and their own chiefs would persecute them. Indeed Pharaoh was mighty in the land, he was among those who exceed all limits.
And We directed Moses and his brother: 'Prepare a few houses for your people in Egypt, and make your houses a direction for men to pray, and establish Prayer, and give glad tidings to the men of faith.
Moses prayed: 'Our Lord! You bestowed upon Pharaoh and his nobles splendour and riches in the world. Our Lord! Have You done this that they may lead people astray from Your path? Our Lord! Obliterate their riches and harden their hearts that they may not believe until they observe the painful chastisement.
And We led the Children of Israel across the sea. Then Pharaoh and his hosts pursued them in iniquity and transgression until Pharaoh cried out while he was drowning: 'I believe that there is no god but Allah in Whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am also one of those who submit to Allah.
We settled the Children of Israel in a blessed land, and provided them with all manner of good things. They only disagreed among themselves after knowledge (of the truth had) come to them. Surely your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning their disagreements.
Now, if you are in doubt concerning what We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Book before you. It is the truth that has come to you from your Lord, so do never become one of those who doubt,
Did it ever happen that the people of a town believed on seeing God's chastisement and its believing profited them? (There is no such instance) except of the people of Yunus. When they believed We granted them reprieve from humiliating chastisement in this world, and We let them enjoy themselves for a while.
What are they waiting for except to witness the repetition of the days of calamity that their predecessors witnessed? Tell them: 'Wait; I too am waiting with you.
Then, (when Allah's wrath falls upon the wicked) We save our Messengers and also those who believe. It is incumbent on Us to deliver the believers.' set fire to the whole city and its environs. The Assyrian king set his own palace ablaze and was himself burnt to death.
(O Prophet!) Tell them: 'Men! If you are still in doubt concerning my religion, know that I do not serve those whom you serve beside Allah. I only serve Allah Who will cause (all of) you to die. I have been commanded to be one of those who believe,
Do not call upon any apart from Allah on those who have no power to benefit or hurt you. For if you call upon others than Allah you will be reckoned among the wrong-doers.
If Allah afflicts you with any hardship, none other than He can remove it; and if He wills any good for you, none can avert His bounty. He bestows good upon whomsoever of His servants He wills. He is AllForgiving, All-Merciful.'
Tell them (O Muhammad): 'Men! Truth has come to you from your Lord. Whosoever, then, follows the true guidance does so for his own good; and whosoever strays, his straying will be to his own hurt. I am no custodian over you.
