Alif. Lam. Ra'. This is a Book which We have revealed to you that you may bring forth mankind from every kind of darkness into light, and direct them, with the leave of their Lord, to the Way of the Mighty, the Innately Praiseworthy,
(to the Way of) Allah to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. Woe be to those who reject the Truth for a severe chastisement,
to those who have chosen the life of the world in preference to the Hereafter, who hinder people from the Way of Allah, and seek to make it crooked. They have gone far astray.
Never have We sent a Messenger but he has addressed his people in their language that he may fully expound his Message to them. (And after the Message is expounded), Allah lets go astray whomsoever He wills, and guides to the Right Way whomsoever He wills. He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.
We indeed sent Moses with Our Signs, saying: \"Lead your people out of all kinds of darkness into light, and admonish them by narrating to them anecdotes from the Days of Allah.\" Verily in it there are great Signs for everyone who is patient and gives thanks (to Allah).
And call to mind when Moses said to his people: \"Remember Allah's favour upon you when He delivered you from Pharaoh's people who afflicted you with a grievous chastisement, slaughtering your sons, while letting your women live. In it there was a terrible trial from your Lord.\"
Also call to mind when your Lord proclaimed: \"If you give thanks, I will certainly grant you more; but if you are ungrateful for My favours, My chastisement is terrible.
Have the accounts of your predecessors not reached you: the people of Noah, the Ad, the Thamud, and those who came after them - they whose number is not known to any except Allah? Their Messengers came to them with Clear Signs, but they thrust their hands in their mouths, and said: \"We do surely reject the Message you have brought, and we are in disquieting doubt about what you are summoning us to.\"
Their Messengers said: \"Can there be any doubt about Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth? He invites you that He may forgive you your sins and grant you respite till an appointed term.\" They replied: \"You are only a human being like ourselves. You seek to prevent us from serving those whom our forefathers have been serving all along. If that is so, produce a clear authority for it.\"
Their Messengers told them: \"Indeed we are only human beings like yourselves, but Allah bestows His favour on those of His servants whom He wills. It does not lie in our power to produce any authority except by the leave of Allah. It is in Allah that the believers should put their trust.
And why should we not put our trust in Allah when it is indeed He Who has guided us to the ways of our life? We shall surely continue to remain steadfast in face of your persecution. All those who have to put trust, should put their trust only in Allah.\"
Then the unbelievers told their Messengers: \"You will have to return to the fold of our faith or else we shall banish you from our land.\" Thereupon their Lord revealed to them: \"We will most certainly destroy these wrong-doers,
and will then cause you to settle in the land as their successors. That is the reward for him who fears to stand for reckoning and holds My threat in awe.\"
which he will gulp but will scarcely swallow, and death will come upon him from every quarter, and yet he will not be able to die. A terrible chastisement lies ahead in pursuit of him.
This is the example of those who disbelieve in their Lord: their works are like ashes upon which the wind blows fiercely on a tempestuous day. They shall find no reward for their deeds. That indeed is the farthest point in straying.
Then all of them will appear exposed before Allah, and the weak ones will say to the haughty ones: \"We merely followed you. Will you, then, protect us from Allah's chastisement?\" They will say: \"Had Allah shown us the Way to our salvation, we would surely have also guided you. Now it is all the same whether we cry or suffer patiently, we have no escape.\"
After the matter has been finally decided Satan will say: \"Surely whatever Allah promised you was true; as for me, I went back on the promise I made to you. I had no power over you except that I called you to my way and you responded to me. So, do not blame me but blame yourselves. Here, neither I can come to your rescue, nor can you come to mine. I disavow your former act of associating me in the past with Allah. A grievous chastisement inevitably lies ahead for such wrong-doers.\"
As for those who had believed and did good in the world, they shall be admitted to the Gardens beneath which rivers flow. There, with the leave of Allah, they shall abide forever, and will be greeted with: \"Peace\".
Thus, through a firm word, Allah grants firmness to the believers both in this world and in the Hereafter. As for the wrong-doers, Allah lets them go astray. Allah does whatever He wills.
They have set up rivals to Allah that they may lead people astray from His way. Tell them: \"Enjoy for a while. You are doomed to end up in the Fire!\"
(O Prophet), tell those of My servants who believe that they should establish Prayer and spend out of what We have provided them with, both secretly and openly, before there arrives the Day when there will be no bargaining, nor any mutual befriending.
It is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth, Who sent down water from the heaven and thereby brought forth a variety of fruits as your sustenance, Who subjected for you the ships that they may sail in the sea by His command, Who subjected for you the rivers,
and Who gave you all that you asked Him for. Were you to count the favours of Allah you shall never be able to encompass them. Verily man is highly unjust, exceedingly ungrateful.
My Lord! They have caused many people to go astray. Now, if anyone follows my way, he is from me; and if anyone follows a way opposed to mine, then surely You are Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.\"
\"Our Lord! I have made some of my offspring settle in a barren valley near Your Sacred House! Our Lord! I did so that they may establish Prayer. So make the hearts of people affectionately inclined to them, and provide them with fruits for their sustenance that they may give thanks.
Do not think Allah is heedless of the evil deeds in which the evil-doers are engaged. He is merely granting them respite until a Day when their eyes shall continue to stare in horror,
when they shall keep pressing ahead in haste, their heads lifted up, their gaze directed forward, unable to look away from what they behold, their hearts utterly void.
(O Muhammad), warn mankind of the Day when a severe chastisement shall overtake them, and the wrong-doers will say: \"Our Lord, grant us respite for a short while; we shall respond to Your call and will follow Your Messengers.\" (But they will be clearly told): \"Are you not the same who swore earlier that they shall never suffer decline?\"
You said so even though you had lived in the dwellings of those who had wronged themselves (by sinning), and you were aware how We dealt with them, and We had even explained to you all this by giving examples.
Indeed the unbelievers contrived their plan, but it is in Allah's power to nullify their plan, even though their plans were such that would move even mountains.
(Do warn them of the) Day when the heavens and the earth shall be altogether changed; when all will appear fully exposed before Allah, the One, the Irresistible!
This is a proclamation for all mankind that they may be warned by it, and that they may know that their God is none but the One True God, and that men of understanding may take heed.
