Blessed is He Who revealed Al-Furqân (- this Qur´ân) to His servant that he may be a Warner to all the peoples.
It is He to Whom the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth belongs. And He has begotten nor taken to Himself a son, nor is there any associate with Him in the sovereignty. He has created everything and has determined its proper measure.
Yet people worship apart from Him gods who, rather than create anything, are themselves created and who have no power of (averting) harm or (doing) good to themselves, nor have they any control over death or life or Resurrection.
But those who disbelieve say, `This (Qur´ân) is nothing but a big lie which he (- the false claimant to Prophethood) has forged and other people have helped him in this,´ (by) so (saying) they have perpetrated a great injustice and a big falsehood.
They (also) say, `(This Qur´ân consists of) fables of the ancients that he has got written down and now they are read out to him morning and evening.´
Say, `He Who knows every secret of the heavens and the earth has revealed this (Qur´ân). Verily, He is Great Protector, Ever Merciful.´
They say, `What sort of a Messenger is this that he even eats food and (also) goes about in the market-places? Why has no angel been sent down to him that he may (help him and) be a warner along with him?
`Or a treasure should have been sent to him or there should have been a garden from which he might eat.´ Not only that, these unjust people say, `You follow none but a (mere) man who is given food.´
Look, what fantastic stories they concoct with regard to you! It is therefore that they have gone astray and are unable to find a way.
Blessed is He Who is pleased to assign to you (at the time of the Final victory of the Muslims) better than that (garden they devise for you) gardens (of Mesopotamia) served with running streams (rivers like Euphrates, Tigris and Jihûn and Sihûn), and will also assign to you palaces (of the Persian and Byzantine Emperors, and also the treasures of Chosroes and Caesars would be placed at your feet).
Nay, (the real fact is) they (- the disbelievers) cry lies to the Hour (of the evil doom of the disbelievers and final victory of the Muslims) and We have in store a blazing hell for him who cries lies to the Hour.
When it (- the blazing Fire) sees them from afar, they will hear its raging and roaring.
And when they are thrown into some narrow place of it, chained in fetters, they will call out for (total) destruction, there and then.
(It will be said to them,) `This is no time to call out for a single death, you had better call out for a series of deaths.´
Say, `Is this (end) better or the everlasting Paradise which is promised to those who guard against evil and which is their due reward and (ultimate) resort.
They shall have there all that they desire and they will abide (in this state of bliss for ever). It is a promise binding on your Lord (and) to be always earnestly prayed for (from Him).
Beware of the day when He will gather them together, and the things they worship, apart from Allâh. He will ask, `Was it you who led these servants of mine astray or did they themselves stray away from the right path?´
They will say, `Holy is Your name! It did not behove us to take patrons apart from You. But You bestowed on them and their fathers the good things of life to such an extent that they gave up remembrance of You and became a ruined people.´
(Then We shall say to the idol-worshipers), `Now these (deities) have given you the lie (and contradict you) with regard to what you said, so (today) you have no power to avert (the penalty) or get help (of any sort for yourselves); (remember) whosoever of you acts unjustly and goes wrong we shall make him suffer a great punishment.´
And We sent no Messengers before you but they surely ate food and walked in the market-places (and were human models for you to follow in every walk of life). And We try you one with another (to show) if you will (then) patiently persevere. And your Lord is ever All-Seeing.
Those who entertain no fear about being present before Us, nor do they expect it, say, `Why should not the angels be sent down to us? Or we see our Lord?´ They have indeed thought very highly of themselves and have exceeded all limits of transgression.
(Do they not realize that) the day when they will see the angels there will be no good tidings that day for those who cut off their ties (with God), and they will say (in distress), `Would that there were some strong barrier (between us and this punishment).´
And We have turned (Our attention) to whatsoever attempt they have made (against Islam) and so We will render this (attempt) like thin dust particles scattered about (as it was in the battle of Badr).
(Only) the owners of Paradise will be better off with regard to (their) abode and happier still in respect of (their) place of repose.
(Call to mind) the day when the heaven shall burst and melt into raining clouds and the angels shall be made to descend in large numbers;
The true sovereignty that day shall belong only to the Most Gracious (God) and it shall be really a (very) hard day for the disbelievers.
On that day the unjust shall bite his hands (in regret); he will say, `If only I had followed the (same) path along with the Messenger!
`Ah, woe is me! would that I had not made friends with so and so.
`He indeed led me astray from this source of rising to eminence (- the Qur´ân) after it had come to me. And satan is ever a deserter of human being (in the hour of need).
And (on that Day) the Messenger will say, `My Lord! my people treated even this Qur´ân (full of blessings) as (a thing) abandoned.
(Just as We have turned them into your enemies) so do We make those who cut off their ties (with Allâh) as the enemies of each and every Prophet. Yet your Lord is sufficient to guide and (enough) in respect of rendering help.
And those who disbelieve say, `Why has not (the whole of) the Qur´ân been revealed to him all at once? (But We have revealed it) in this manner (- piece by piece out of necessity). And (inspite of the fact that it has not been revealed all at once,) We have arranged it in an excellent (form and order of) arrangement (and free of all contradictions) so that We may thereby lend strength to your heart.
They bring you no parable (by way of an objection) but We have provided you with the true fact and perfect interpretation (of it, in answer to the objection beforehand).
And those who shall be brought to Gehenna dragged on their faces (and along with their leaders) are the worst placed and they have completely lost the straight path.
And We gave Moses the Scripture and made with him his brother Aaron a sharer of (his) burden.
We said, `Go both of you to the people who have cried lies to Our commandments. Then (when they had accomplished their mission of conveying the Message and were again rejected) We destroyed these disbelievers with an utter destruction.
And (We destroyed) the people of Noah (too), when they treated (Our) Messengers as liars, We drowned them and made them a sign (to learn a lesson from) for mankind. Indeed We have in store a woeful punishment for (such of) the wrongdoers.
And (tribes of) `âd and Thamûd and the People of the Rass and many a generation in between them (were all destroyed).
And for (the guidance of) each one (of them) We quoted excellent pieces of advice and (when they still persisted in refusal) We ruined each one of them, a complete ruination.
And certainly these (Makkan disbelievers) pass by the (ruined) township (of Sodom situated on the highway between Arabia and Syria) which suffered a painful rain (of stones). Have they not been seeing (the ruins of) this (township of the people of Lot). Why, they have been, (but the reason behind their refusal is) they do not (believe and) expect not to be resurrected (after death and to be called to account for their deeds).
And Whenever they see you they treat you disdainfully (saying), `What! is this the man whom Allâh has raised for a Messenger?
`He indeed had well-nigh led us astray from our gods if we had not adhered to them steadfastly.´ And they shall soon know for certain, when they see the punishment who had completely lost the straight path.
Have you considered (over the plight of) one who has taken his own low desires for his deity? Can you then be a guardian over such a one?
Do you think that most of these (opponents) can hear and understand (what you say)? They are only like cattle, rather they are even worse in their ways and behaviour.
Do you not see (the wonderful doing of) your Lord how He stretches the shadow? If He had pleased He could have made it still. Not only that (We stretch the shadow) We make (the position of) the sun its indicator.
Then (as the sun rises higher in the sky), We withdraw it (- the shadow) to Ourselves; a gradual withdrawing.
It is He Who has made the night as a covering mantle for you and (Who has made) sleep for (a short) rest (as well as a sign of eternal rest - the death), and (has made) the day for rising up and going about (to seek livelihood and also a sign of Resurrection).
And it is He Who sends the winds as happy heralds of His mercy, and We send down from above water (also representing Divine revelation) for the purification (of the souls as well).
That We may thereby bring the dead land to life and give it as a drink to (most of the things) whom We have created, beasts and mankind in large numbers.
And We have explained this (topic) to them in diverse ways so that they may take heed, but most of the people would refuse (to adopt any other attitude) except (that of) disbelief.
If We had so willed We would surely have raised (in place of universal Prophethood) a Warner in every town.
So do not follow the disbelievers, and strive hard against them with the help of this (Qur´ân), a mighty striving.
It is He Who has let the two spans of water loose to flow, one of them (- a river) sweet and thirst-quenching while the other (a sea) saltish (and) bitter, and He has set a barrier and an insurmountable partition between them; (still both exist side by side in the world and would continue).
And it is He Who created human being from water and has given him relations by descent and (kindred) by marriage (and thus sought to establish a civilization and social life based on oneness of humanity under oneness of God). And your Lord is All-Powerful.
Yet they (- the disbelievers) worship apart from Allâh the things which can neither do them good nor avert harm from them. And the disbeliever is ever a helper (of the upholders of the cause of untruth) against his Lord.
But We have sent you only as a Bearer of happy tidings (to the doers of good) and as a Warner ( to the wicked and the unjust).
Say, `I ask of you no recompense for it (- the services I render). All that I ask is that whosoever chooses may follow the path (that leads) to his Lord.´
Hence put your trust in the Ever-Living (God) Who is free from death, and glorify His holiness along with (celebrating) His praise and (also tell,) `Sufficient is He as being Well-Aware of the short-comings of His servants.´
It is He Who created the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them in six aeons. Besides He is firmly established on the Throne (of Power). He is the Most Gracious (God). And ask concerning Him one who knows (- the Prophet Muhammad).
And when it is said to them, `Prostrate (to show submission) to the Most Gracious (God).´ They say, `What (thing) is this the Most Gracious (God)? Shall we prostrate to whatever you bid us to show submission?´ So this (bidding of the Prophet to submit to the Lord) increased them in aversion (to the truth). [Prostration]
Blessed is He Who has placed stars in the heaven and has set in it the glowing sun (that produces light) and the glittering moon (that reflects light).
And it is He Who has made the night and the day, one following the other; (He has done it) for (the benefit of) the person who would care to receive exhortation and who would care to be grateful.
Those alone are the true servants of the Most Gracious (God) who walk upon the earth in all humility, (but in a dignified manner), and when the ignorant address them, they (do not wrangle but) observe a peaceful attitude.
And who pass the nights for the sake of their Lord prostrating and standing up (before Him in Prayer).
And who say (while praying), `Our Lord, avert from us the punishment of Gehenna, for its punishment is indeed most vehement and unshakable.
`It is of course, an evil place to lodge temporarily and an evil abode to remain therein permanently.´
And (the true servants of God are those) who, when spending, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, (but their spendings follow) a middle course, ever moderate;
And who invoke none as god along with Allâh and who do not kill anyone whom Allâh has forbidden (to be killed), except for a just and lawful cause, and who do not commit fornication and adultery; and he who does (these things) shall meet the punishment of (his) sin.
His punishment shall be doubled on the Day of Resurrection. Humiliated and disgraced he shall suffer the punishment for long.
Different however shall be the case of him who turns (to God in repentance) and believes and does righteous deeds. For such people only Allâh will replace their evil deeds with good ones. And Allâh is Great Protector, Most Merciful.
And he who turns (to God in sincere repentance) and accordingly does righteous deeds, no doubt he turns to Allâh in proper and true repentance.
And those who do not give false evidence and when they pass by something vain they (do not indulge in it, but) pass on with dignity.
And who do not shut their ears and eyes to the commandments of their Lord (but listen to them attentively and with their eyes open) when they are reminded of them (so that their belief is based on conviction and not on mere hearsay).
And who (in their prayers) say, `Grant that our wives and our children be (a source of) comfort for (our) eyes and make us a model for those who guard against evil.´
It is such of those who will be rewarded the highest place (in Paradise) for their fortitude and they will be received therein with greeting and salutation of peace.
They will abide therein (for ever). How excellent it is as a lodging place (to rest) and how noble as an abode for permanent stay.
Say (to the disbelievers), `My Lord will not hold you to be of any worth if you do not call on Him (in your prayers seeking His protection). Since you cried lies (to the word of God), so you must now encounter a lasting punishment.´