سورة Al-Hajj ( The Pilgrimage )

O People! Fear your Lord. The catastrophe of the Last Hour shall be terrible indeed:

when that Day comes, every suckling mother shall forsake her infant and every pregnant woman shall cast her burden and everyone will appear intoxicated, although they are not: the punishment of God will be severe indeed.

Yet there are some who dispute about God without having any knowledge and they follow every rebellious devil,

it has been decreed concerning anyone whom he befriends, that he shall mislead him and guide him to the punishment of the Fire.

O people! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, remember that We first created you from dust, then from a sperm drop, then from clotted blood, then a lump of flesh, both shaped and unshaped, so that We might manifest to you [Our power]. We cause what We will to stay in the womb for an appointed time, then We bring you forth as infants and then We cause you to grow and reach full growth. Then, some of you will pass away early in life, while some of you will reach extreme old age in which they will know nothing of what they once knew. You see the earth, dead and barren, but no sooner do We send down rain upon it than it begins to stir and swell, and produce every kind of luxuriant vegetation:

that is because God is the truth. It is He who gives life to the dead and He has the power to will anything.

The Last Hour is bound to come. There is no doubt about it. God will raise up those who are in their graves.

There are some who dispute about God without having any knowledge or guidance, or any enlightening Book.

They turn away arrogantly, leading people astray from God's path. Such men shall incur disgrace in this life and taste the punishment of the Fire on the Day of Judgement.

[God will say],\"This is the reward of your misdeeds. God is not unjust to His servants.\"

There are some who worship God half-heartedly, then, if some good befalls them, they are content with it, but if an ordeal befalls them, they revert to their former ways. They lose in this world as well in the Hereafter. That is a clear loss.

He calls on, instead of God, something that can neither harm him, nor benefit him. That is indeed straying far away --

he calls on that which would sooner harm than help. Such a patron is indeed evil and such a companion is indeed evil.

God will admit those who believe and act righteously into Gardens watered by flowing rivers. God does whatever He wills.

Anyone who thinks that God will not help him [His messenger] in this world and the Hereafter, let him stretch a rope up to the sky; then let him cut it off and see if his plan can help to remove the cause of his anger.

We have sent down the Quran as clear evidence, and surely God guides whom He will.

God will judge between the believers, the Jews, the Sabaeans, the Christians, the Magians and the polytheists on the Day of Judgement. Surely God is witness to everything.

Do you not see that whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, as well as the sun and the moon, and the stars and the mountains, and the trees and the beasts and many human beings -- all submit to God? But there are many who have become deserving of punishment. Whoever God disgraces, will have no one to honour him. Surely, God does what He wills.

These two groups, [the believers and those who deny the truth], dispute concerning their Lord. Those who deny the truth will have garments of fire cut out for them; and boiling water will be poured down over their heads,

anything in their stomachs as well as their skins will be melted by it.

There will be maces of iron for them;

whenever, in their anguish they seek to escape from Hell, they will be driven back into it, and they will be told, \"Taste the punishment of Hell.\"

God will admit those who believe and do good deeds to Gardens watered by flowing rivers; there they will be given bracelets of gold and pearls to wear and their clothing will be of silk.

For they were guided to purity of speech. And they were guided to the path of the Glorious Lord.

As for those who deny the truth and debar others from God's path and from the Sacred Mosque which We set up for all people, natives and strangers alike, and all who seek to profane it by evil-doing -- We shall make them taste a painful punishment.

We assigned to Abraham the site of the House, saying, \"Do not associate with Me anything and purify My House for those who circumambulate [the Kabah] and those who stand upright, and those who bow and prostrate themselves.\"

Call mankind to the Pilgrimage. They will come to you, on foot, and on every kind of lean camel, by every distant track

so that they may witness its benefit for them and, on the appointed days may utter the name of God over the cattle He has provided for them. Then eat their flesh, and feed the distressed and the needy --

then let the pilgrims purify themselves and fulfil their vows and perform the circumambulation of the Ancient House.

Such is God's commandment. Whoever honours that which is declared sacred by God may be sure that it counts for good in the sight of his Lord. Livestock is lawful for you, except that which has already been explicitly forbidden. Then shun the abomination of the deities and shun all falsehood.

Devote yourselves to God, not associating any partners with Him. Whoever associates anything with God is like one who falls from heaven and is snatched by the birds or carried away by the wind to a distant place.

Thus it is. He who honours the symbols set up by God shows the piety of his heart.

You may benefit from the animals for an appointed time. Then they must be sacrificed at the Ancient House.

For every people We have appointed rites of sacrifice, so that they may pronounce the name of God over the cattle which He has provided for them. Your God is One God; surrender yourselves to Him; and give good news to the humble

whose hearts are filled with awe at the mention of God; who endure adversity with fortitude, say their prayers regularly and spend out of what We have given them.

We have appointed for you the sacrificial camels as one of the symbols set up by God, in which there is much good for you. So invoke God's name over them as you line them up for slaughter, and when they have fallen down dead, feed yourselves and feed the needy -- those who do not ask as well as those who do. We have thus subjected them to you so that you may be grateful.

Their flesh and blood do not reach God: it is your piety that reaches Him. Thus God has subjected them to you, so that you may glorify Him for the guidance He has given you. Give glad tidings to those who do good.

God will surely defend the believers. God does not love the perfidious and the ungrateful.

Permission to fight is granted to those who are attacked, because they have been wronged, God indeed has the power to help them,

they are those who have been driven out of their homes unjustly, only because they said, \"Our Lord is God.\" If God did not repel the aggression of some people by means of others, cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of God is much invoked, would surely be destroyed. God will surely help him who helps His cause -- God is indeed powerful and mighty.

[They are] those who, if We established them in the land, would say their prayers regularly and pay the zakat and enjoin good and forbid evil. The final outcome of all affairs rests with God.

If your opponents deny you, remember that, before them, the people of Noah and the tribes of 'Ad and Thamud denied their messengers likewise.

So did the people of Abraham and the people of Lot,

and the inhabitants of Midian also charged their prophets with falsehood. Moses was also rejected. I gave respite to those who denied the truth, but then I seized them. Consider then, how terrible My repudiation of them was.

How many a town We destroyed which was given to wrongdoing, so that its roofs fell down, and how many a well is deserted and how many a lofty castle is in ruins.

Have these people not travelled through the land to make their hearts understand and let their ears hear; the truth is that it is not the eyes that are blind but the hearts that are in the bosoms that are blinded.

They ask you to hasten the punishment; God will never go back on His promise. A Day with your Lord is like a thousand years in your reckoning.

To how many a town We gave respite while it was given to wrongdoing. Then I seized it. To Me all things shall return.

Say, \"O people, I am sent only to give you clear warning.\"

Those who believe and do good deeds shall be forgiven and shall receive an honourable provision.

Whereas those who strive against Our signs, seeking to defeat their purpose, shall be the inmates of the Fire.

Whenever We sent any messenger or prophet before you, and he recited anything [of Our revelation], Satan tampered with it. But God abrogates Satan's interjections and then He firmly reaffirms His revelations. God is all knowing and all wise.

He makes Satan's suggestions a trial for those whose hearts are diseased or hardened, and, surely, the wrongdoers are far gone in error,

so that those who are given knowledge may realize that this is the truth from your Lord and thus believe in it, and so that in their hearts they may humbly submit to Him. God will surely guide the faithful to a straight path.

Those who deny the truth will continue in doubt until the [Last] Hour suddenly comes upon them or the scourge of the woeful Day descends upon them.

On that Day all control will belong to God. He will judge between them. Those who believe and do good deeds shall enter the Gardens of Bliss,

but those who deny the truth and deny Our signs will receive a humiliating punishment.

As for those who left their homes for the cause of God and then were slain or died, God will give them a generous provision. Surely God is the Best of Providers.

He will admit them to a place with which they shall be well-pleased. For God is all knowing and most forbearing.

Thus it shall be. As for one who retaliates to the same extent as he has suffered and then is again wronged, God will surely come to his aid. God is merciful and forgiving.

That is because God makes the night pass into the day and makes the day pass into the night. God is all hearing and all seeing.

That is because God is the Truth while anything they invoke besides God is sheer falsehood. God is the Sublime, the Great One.

Have you not seen how God sends down water from sky, whereupon the earth becomes green? God is unfathomable, and all aware;

all that is in the heavens and on the earth belongs to Him. Surely, God is self-sufficient and praiseworthy.

Do you not see, how God has subjected everything on the earth to you, and the ships that sail on the sea by His command. He holds back the sky from falling down on the earth, except with His permission. God is most compassionate and most merciful to mankind --

it is He who gave you life. Then He will cause you to die. Then He will give you life again. Surely, man is most ungrateful.

We have appointed for every community ways of worship to observe. Let them not dispute with you on this matter. Call them to the path of your Lord -- for surely, you are rightly guided --

if they should dispute with you, then say, \"God is well aware of what you do.\"

On the Day of Resurrection, God will judge between you regarding your differences.

Do you not know that God has knowledge of what the heavens and the earth contain? All is recorded in a Book; all this is easy for God.

Yet instead of God, they worship something for which God has sent no authority and about which they have no knowledge. The wrongdoers will have no helper.

Whenever Our clear revelations are recited to them, you will recognize the disgust on the faces of those who deny the truth. It is almost as if they are going to attack those who recite Our message to them. Say, \"Shall I tell you of something worse than this? It is the Fire that God has promised to those who are bent on denying the truth. What an evil destination!\"

People, here is an illustration. So listen carefully. Surely, those whom you invoke other than God cannot create even a fly, even if they were all to combine together to do it, and if a fly should snatch anything away from them, they cannot recover it from it. Both are indeed weak, the seeker and the sought.

No just estimate have they made of God. Surely God is powerful and mighty.

God selects messengers from both angels and from mankind; God is all hearing and all seeing:

He knows what lies ahead of them and what is behind them. All things shall return to God.

You who are true believers, kneel and prostrate yourselves, worship your Lord and do good works, so that you may succeed.

Strive for the cause of God as it behoves you to strive for it. He has chosen you and laid on you no burden in the matter of your religion, the faith of Abraham your forefather. In this, as in former scriptures He has given you the name of Muslims, so that the Messenger may be a witness over you, and so that you may be witnesses over mankind. Therefore, say your prayers regularly and pay the zakat and hold fast to God. He is your master. An excellent master and an excellent helper!