A Meccan sura that starts with a denunciation of polytheism, then deals with the disbelievers’ arguments against the Prophet, the Qur’an, and the Day of Judgement. It warns them of their fate, citing examples of earlier peoples. The sura describes the power and grace of God, and ends with the qualities of true believers (verses 63–76).
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1Exalteda is He who has sent the Differentiatorb down to His servant so that it may be a warning to all people. 2It is He who has control over the heavens and earth and has no offspring—no one shares control with Him—and who created all things and made them to an exact measure. 3Yet the disbelievers take as their gods things beneath Him that create nothing, and are themselves created, that can neither harm nor help themselves, and have no control over death, life, or resurrection.
4The disbelievers say, ‘This can only be a lie he has forged with the help of others’—they themselves have done great wrong and told lies— 5and they say, ‘It is just ancient fables, which he has had written down: they are dictated to him morning and evening.’ 6Say, ‘It was sent down by Him who knows the secrets of the heavens and earth. He is all forgiving, all merciful.’ 7They also say, ‘What sort of messenger is this? He eats food and walks about in the marketplaces! Why has no angel been sent down to help him with his warnings? 8Why has he not been given treasure or a garden to supply his food?’ and the evildoers say, ‘The man you follow is simply under a spell.’ 9See what they think you are like! They have gone astray and cannot find the right way. 10Exalted is He who can, if He wishes, give you better things than these: Gardens graced with flowing streams, and palaces too. 11It is actually the coming of the Hour that they reject: We have prepared a blazing fire for those who reject the Hour. 12When it sees them from a distance, they will hear it raging and roaring, 13and when they are hurled into a narrow part of it, chained together, they will cry out for death. 14‘Do not cry out this day for one death, but for many.’ 15Say, ‘Which is better, this or the lasting Garden that those who are mindful of God have been promised as their reward and journey’s end?’ 16There they will find everything they wish for, and there they will stay. [Prophet], this is a binding promise from your Lord. 17On the Day He gathers them all together with those they worship beside Him, He will say, ‘Was it you [false gods] who led these creatures of Mine astray, or did they stray from the path by themselves?’ 18They will say, ‘May You be exalted! We ourselves would never take masters other than You! But You granted them and their forefathers pleasures in this life, until they forgot Your Reminder and were ruined.’ 19[God will say], ‘Now your gods have denounced what you say as lies: you cannot avoid the punishment; you will not get any help.’ If any of you commits such evil, We shall make him taste agonizing torment.
20No messenger have We sent before you [Muhammad] who did not eat food and walk about in the marketplace. But We have made some of you a means of testing others—will you stand fast? Your Lord is always watching. 21Those who do not fear to meet Us say, ‘Why are the angels not sent down to us?’ or ‘Why can we not see our Lord?’ They are too proud of themselves and too insolent. 22There will be no good news for the guilty on the Day they see the angels. The angels will say, ‘You cannot cross the forbidden barrier,’a 23and We shall turn to the deeds they have done and scatter them like dust. 24But the companions in the Garden will have a better home on that Day, and a fairer place to rest. 25On the Day when the sky and its clouds are split apart and the angels sent down in streams, 26on that Day, true authority belongs to the Lord of Mercy. It will be a grievous Day for the disbelievers. 27On that Day the evildoer will bite his own hand and say, ‘If only I had taken the same path as the Messenger. 28Woe is me! If only I had not taken so and so as a friend— 29he led me away from the Revelation after it reached me. Satan has always betrayed mankind.’
30The Messenger has said, ‘Lord, my people treat this Qur’an as something to be shunned,’ 31but We have always appointed adversaries from the wicked, for every prophet: Your Lord is sufficient guide and helper. 32The disbelievers also say, ‘Why was the Qur’an not sent down to him all at once?’ We sent it in this way to strengthen your heart [Prophet]; We gave it to you in gradual revelation. 33They cannot put any argument to you without Our bringing you the truth and the best explanation. 34It is those driven [falling], on their faces,a to Hell who will be in the worst place—they are the furthest from the right path.
35We gave Moses the Book and appointed his brother Aaron to help him. 36We said, ‘Go, both of you, to the people who have rejected Our signs.’ Later We destroyed those people utterly. 37The people of Noah, too: when they rejected their messengers, We drowned them and made them an example to all people. We have prepared a painful torment for the evildoers, 38as We did for the people of ‘Ad, Thamud, and al-Rass, and many generations in between. 39To each of them We gave warnings, and each of them We destroyed completely. 40These disbelievers must have passed by the town that was destroyed by the terrible rainb—did they not see it? Yet they do not expect to be raised from the dead. 41Whenever they see you [Prophet] they ridicule you: ‘Is this the one God has sent as a messenger? 42He might almost have led us astray from our gods if we had not stood so firmly by them.’ When they see the punishment, they will know who is furthest from the path. 43Think [Prophet] of the man who has taken his own passion as a god: are you to be his guardian? 44Do you think that most of them hear or understand? They are just like cattle—no, they are further from the path.
45Do you not see how your Lord lengthens the shade? If He had willed, He could have made it stand still—We made the sun its indicator— 46but We gradually draw it towards Us, little by little. 47It is He who made the night a garment for you, and sleep a rest, and made the day like a resurrection. 48It is He who sends the winds as heralds of good news before His Mercy.c We send down pure water from the sky, 49so that We can revive a dead land with it, and We give it as a drink to many animals and people We have created. 50Many times We have repeated this to people so that they might take heed, but most persist in their ingratitude. 51If it had been Our will, We would have sent a warner to every town, 52so do not give in to the disbelievers: strive hard against them with this Qur’an.
53It is He who released the two bodies of flowing water, one sweet and fresh and the other salty and bitter, and put an insurmountable barrier between them. 54It is He who creates human beings from fluid, then makes them kin by blood and marriage: your Lord is all powerful! 55Yet instead of God they worship things that can neither benefit nor harm them: the disbeliever has always turned his back on his Lord. 56We sent you only to give good news and warning. 57Say, ‘I am not asking for any reward for it, but anyone who wishes should take a path to his Lord.’ 58Put your trust in the Living [God] who never dies, and celebrate His praise. He knows the sins of His servants well enough: 59it is He who created the heavens and earth and what is between them in six Days,a and then established Himself on the throne—He is the Lord of Mercy; He is the Best Informed.b 60Yet when they are told, ‘Bow down before the Lord of Mercy,’ they say, ‘What is the Lord of Mercy? Should we bow down before anything you command?’ and they turn even further away. 61Exalted is He who put constellations in the heavens, a radiant light, and an illuminating moon— 62it is He who made the night and day follow each other—so anyone who wishes may be mindful or show gratitude.
63The servants of the Lord of Mercy are those who walk humbly on the earth, and who, when the foolish address them, reply, ‘Peace’; 64those who spend the night bowed down or standing, worshipping their Lord, 65who plead, ‘Our Lord, turn away from us the suffering of Hell, for it is a dreadful torment to suffer! 66It is an evil home, a foul resting place!’ 67They are those who are neither wasteful nor niggardly when they spend, but keep to a just balance; 68those who never invoke any other deity beside God, nor take a life, which God has made sacred, except in the pursuit of justice, nor commit adultery. (Whoever does these things will face the penalties: 69their torment will be doubled on the Day of Resurrection, and they will remain in torment, disgraced, 70except those who repent, believe, and do good deeds: God will change the evil deeds of such people into good ones. He is most forgiving, most merciful. 71People who repent and do good deeds truly return to God.)
72[The servants of the Lord of Mercy are] those who do not give false testimony, and who, when they see some frivolity, pass by with dignity; 73who, when reminded of their Lord’s signs, do not turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to them; 74those who pray, ‘Our Lord, give us joy in our spouses and offspring. Make us good examples to those who are aware of You’. 75These servants will be rewarded with the highest place in Paradise for their steadfastness. There they will be met with greetings and peace. 76There they will stay—a happy home and resting place! 77[Prophet, tell the disbelievers], ‘What are you to my Lord without your supplication? But since you have written off the truth as lies, the inevitable will happen.’a