A Meccan sura which takes its name from the reference to poets in verse 224. It talks about the disbelievers who belittle the Qur’an, and gives examples of God’s power and grace in nature. It recounts several stories of earlier prophets, the reactions of their people, and punishments that afflicted them, ending by confirming the divine origin of the Qur’an. It is not something brought down by the jinn, nor is it poetry.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1Ta Sin Mtm
2These are the verses of the Scripture that makes things clear:
3[Prophet], are you going to worry yourself to death because they will not believe? 4If We had wished, We could have sent them down a sign from heaven, at which their necks would stay bowed in utter humility. 5Whenever they are brought a new revelation from the Lord of Mercy, they turn away: 6they deny it, but the truth of what they scorned will soon hit them. 7Do they not see the earth, and what noble kinds of thing We grow in it? 8There truly is a sign in this, though most of them do not believe: 9your Lord alone is the Almighty, the Merciful.
10Your Lord called to Moses: ‘Go to those wrongdoers, 11the people of Pharaoh. Will they not take heed?’ 12Moses said, ‘My Lord, I fear they will call me a liar, 13and I will feel stressed and tongue-tied, so send Aaron too; 14besides, they have a chargea against me, and I fear they may kill me.’ 15God said, ‘No [they will not]. Go, both of you, with Our signs—We shall be with you, listening. 16Go, both of you, to Pharaoh and say, “We bring a message from the Lord of the Worlds: 17let the Children of Israel leave with us.”’
18Pharaoh said, ‘Did we not bring you up as a child among us? Did you not stay with us for many years? 19And then you committed that crime of yours: you were so ungrateful.’ 20Moses replied, ‘I was misguided when I did it 21and I fled from you in fear; later my Lord gave me wisdom and made me one of His messengers. 22And is this—that you have enslaved the Children of Israel—the favour with which you reproach me?’
23Pharaoh asked, ‘What is this “Lord of the Worlds”?’ 24Moses replied, ‘He is the Lord of the heavens and earth and everything between them. If you would only have faith!’ 25Pharaoh said to those present, ‘Do you hear what he says?’ 26Moses said, ‘He is your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers.’ 27Pharaoh said, ‘This messenger who has been sent to you is truly possessed.’ 28Moses continued, ‘Lord of the East and West and everything between them. If you would only use your reason!’ 29But Pharaoh said [to him], ‘If you take any god other than me, I will throw you into prison,’ 30and Moses asked, ‘Even if I show you something convincing?’ 31‘Show it then,’ said Pharaoh, ‘if you are telling the truth.’ 32So Moses threw down his staff and—lo and behold!—it became a snake for everyone to see. 33Then he drew out his hand and—lo and behold!—it was white for the onlookers to see. 34Pharaoh said to the counsellors around him, ‘This man is a learned sorcerer! 35He means to use his sorcery to drive you out of your land! What do you suggest?’ 36They answered, ‘Delay him and his brother for a while, and send messengers to all the cities 37to bring every accomplished sorcerer to you.’ 38The sorcerers were [to be] assembled at the appointed time on a certain day 39and the people were asked, 40‘Are you all coming? We may follow the sorcerers if they win!’
41When the sorcerers came, they said to Pharaoh, ‘Shall we be rewarded if we win?’ 42and he said, ‘Yes, and you will join my inner court.’ 43Moses said to them, ‘Throw down whatever you will.’ 44They threw their ropes and staffs, saying, ‘By Pharaoh’s might, we shall be victorious.’ 45But Moses threw his staff and—lo and behold!—it swallowed up their trickery 46and the sorcerers fell down on their knees, 47exclaiming, ‘We believe in the Lord of the Worlds, 48the Lord of Moses and Aaron.’ 49Pharaoh said, ‘How dare you believe in him before I have given you permission? He must be the master who taught you sorcery! Soon you will see: I will cut off your alternate hands and feeta and then crucify the lot of you!’ 50‘That will do us no harm,’ they said, ‘for we are sure to return to our Lord. 51We hope that our Lord will forgive us our sins, as we were the first to believe.’
52Then We revealed Our will to Moses, ‘Leave with My servants by night, for you will be pursued!’ 53Pharaoh sent messengers into the cities, proclaiming, 54‘These people are a puny band— 55they have enraged us— 56and we are a large army, on the alert.’ 57So it was that We made them leave their gardens and their springs, 58their treasures and their noble dwellings— 59We gave [such] things [later]a to the Children of Israel. 60Pharaoh and his people pursued them at sunrise, 61and as soon as the two sides came within sight of one another, Moses’ followers said, ‘We shall definitely be caught.’ 62Moses said, ‘No, my Lord is with me: He will guide me,’ 63and We revealed to Moses: ‘Strike the sea with your staff.’ It parted—each side like a mighty mountain— 64and We brought the others to that place: 65We saved Moses and all his companions, 66and drowned the rest. 67There truly is a sign in this, though most of them do not believe: 68your Lord alone is the Almighty, the Merciful.
69Tell them the story of Abraham, 70when he asked his father and his people, ‘What do you worship?’ 71They said, ‘We worship idols, and are constantly in attendance on them.’ 72He asked, ‘Do they hear you when you call? 73Do they help or harm you?’ 74They replied, ‘No, but this is what we saw our fathers doing.’ 75Abraham said, ‘Those idols you have worshipped, 76you and your forefathers, 77are my enemies; not so the Lord of the Worlds, 78who created me. It is He who guides me; 79He who gives me food and drink; 80He who cures me when I am ill; 81He who will make me die and then give me life again; 82and He who will, I hope, forgive my faults on the Day of Judgement. 83My Lord, grant me wisdom; join me with the righteous; 84give me a good name among later generations; 85make me one of those given the Garden of Bliss— 86forgive my father, for he is one of those who have gone astray— 87and do not disgrace me on the Day when all people are resurrected: 88the Day when neither wealth nor children can help, 89when the only one who will be saved is the one who comes before God with a heart devoted to Him.’
90When the Garden is brought near to the righteous 91and the Fire is placed in full view of the misguided, 92it will be said to them, ‘Where are those you worshipped 93beside God? Can they help you now, or even help themselves?’ 94and then they will all be hurled into Hell, together with those that misled them, 95and all Iblis’s supporters.a 96There they will say to their gods, as they bicker among themselves, 97‘We were clearly misguided 98when we made you equal with the Lord of the Worlds. 99It was the evildoers who led us astray, 100and now we have no intercessor 101and no true friend. 102If only we could live our lives again, we would be true believers!’ 103There truly is a sign in this, though most of them do not believe: 104your Lord alone is the Almighty, the Merciful.
105The people of Noah, too, called the messengers liars. 106Their brother Noah said to them, ‘Will you not be mindful of God? 107I am a faithful messenger sent to you: 108be mindful of God and obey me. 1091 ask no reward of you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds: 110be mindful of God and obey me.’ 111They answered, ‘Why should we believe you when the worst sort of people follow you?’ 112He said, ‘What knowledge do I have of what they used to do? 113It is for my Lord alone to bring them to account—if only you could see— 114I will not drive believers away. 115I am here only to give people a clear warning.’ 116So they said, ‘Noah, if you do not stop this, you will be stoned.’ 117He said, ‘My Lord, my people have rejected me, 118so make a firm judgement between me and them, and save me and my believing followers.’ 119So We saved him and his followers in the fully laden ship, 120and drowned the rest. 121There truly is a sign in this, though most of them do not believe: 122your Lord alone is the Almighty, the Merciful.
123The people of ‘Ad, too, called the messengers liars. 124Their brother Hud said to them, ‘Will you not be mindful of God? 125I am a faithful messenger sent to you: 126be mindful of God and obey me. 127I ask no reward of you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds. 128How can you be so vain that you set up monuments on every high place? 129Do you build fortresses because you hope to be immortal? 130Why do you act like tyrants whenever you attack someone? 131Be mindful of God and obey me; 132be mindful of Him who has provided you with everything you know— 133He has given you livestock, sons, 134gardens, springs— 135for I truly fear that the torment of a grievous day will overtake you.’ 136They replied, ‘It makes no difference to us whether you warn us or not, 137for we only do what our forefathers used to do: 138we shall not be punished.’ 139They denounced him as a liar, and so We destroyed them. There truly is a sign in this, though most of them do not believe: 140your Lord alone is the Almighty, the Merciful.
141The people of Thamud, too, called the messengers liars. 142Their brother Salih said to them, ‘Will you not be mindful of God? 143I am a faithful messenger to you: 144be mindful of God and obey me. 145I ask no reward from you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds. 146[Do you think] you will be left secure for ever in what you have here— 147gardens, springs, 148fields, palm trees laden with fruit— 149carving your fine houses from the mountains? 150Be mindful of God and obey me: 151do not obey those who are given to excess 152and who spread corruption in the land instead of doing what is right.’ 153They said, ‘You are bewitched! 154You are nothing but a man like us. Show us a sign, if you are telling the truth.’ 155He said, ‘Here is a camel. She should have her turn to drink and so should you, each on a specified day, 156so do not harm her, or the punishment of a terrible day will befall you.’ 157But they hamstrung her. In the morning they had cause to regret it: 158the punishment fell upon them. There truly is a sign in this, though most of them will not believe: 159your Lord alone is the Almighty, the Merciful.
160The people of Lot, too, called the messengers liars. 161Their brother Lot said to them, ‘Will you not be mindful of God? 162I am a faithful messenger to you: 163be mindful of God and obey me. 164I ask no reward from you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds. 165Must you, unlike [other] people, lust after males 166and abandon the wives that God has created for you? You are exceeding all bounds,’ 167but they replied, ‘Lot! If you do not stop this, you will be driven away.’ 168So he said, ‘I loathe what you do: 169Lord, save me and my family from what they are doing.’ 170We saved him and all his family, 171except for an old woman who stayed behind, 172then We destroyed the others, 173and poured a rain of destruction down upon them. How dreadful that rain was for those who had been forewarned! 174There truly is a sign in this, though most of them will not believe: 175your Lord alone is the Almighty, the Merciful.
176The forest-dwellers, too, called the messengers liars. 177Shu’ayb said to them, ‘Will you not be mindful of God? 178I am a faithful messenger to you: 179be mindful of God and obey me. 180I ask no reward of you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds. 181Give full measure: do not sell others short. 182Weigh with correct scales: 183do not deprive people of what is theirs. Do not spread corruption on earth. 184Be mindful of God who created you and former generations,’ 185but they replied, ‘You are bewitched! 186You are nothing but a man like us. In fact we think you are a liar. 187Make bits of the heavens fall down on us, if you are telling the truth.’ 188He said, ‘My Lord knows best what you do.’ 189They called him a liar, and so the torment of the Day of Shadow came upon them—it was the torment of a terrible day. 190There truly is a sign in this, though most of them will not believe: 191your Lord alone is the Almighty, the Merciful.
192Truly, this Qur’an has been sent down by the Lord of the Worlds: 193the Trustworthy Spirita brought it down 194to your heart [Prophet], so that you could bring warning 195in a clear Arabic tongue. 196This was foretold in the scriptures of earlier religions. 197Is it not proof enough for them that the learned men of the Children of Israel have recognized it? 198If We had sent it down to someone who was not an Arab,b 199and he had recited it to them, they still would not have believed in it. 200So We make it pass straight through the hearts of the guilty: 201they will not believe in it until they see the grievous torment, 202which will suddenly hit them when they are not expecting it, 203and then they will say, ‘Can we have more time?’ 204How can they ask that Our punishment be brought to them sooner? 205Think, if we let them enjoy this life for some years 206and then the promised torment came upon them, 207what good would their past enjoyment be to them?208Never have We destroyed a town without sending down messengers to warn it, 209as a reminder from Us: We are never unjust.
210It was not the jinnc who brought down this Qur’an: 211it is neither in their interests nor in their power, 212indeed they are prevented from overhearing it. 213So [Prophet] do not invoke any gods beside God, or you will incur punishment. 214Warn your nearest kinsfolk 215and lower your wing tenderly over the believers who follow you. 216If they disobey you, say, ‘I bear no responsibility for your actions.’ 217Put your trust in the Almighty, the Merciful, 218who sees you when you stand up [for prayer] 219and sees your movements among the worshippers: 220He is the All Hearing, the All Knowing. 221Shall I tell you who the jinn come down to? 222They come down to every lying sinner 223who readily lends an ear to them, and most of them are liars: 224only those who are lost in error follow the poets.a 225Do you not see how they rove aimlessly in every valley; 226how they say what they do not do?b 227Not so those [poets] who believe, do good deeds, remember God often, and defend themselves after they have been wronged. The evildoers will find out what they will return to.