Hâ Mîm - Allâh is Praiseworthy, Lord of Honour.
The compilation and orderly arrangement (of this Qur´ân) proceeds from the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful (God).
(It is) a Book, the verses of which are detailed and clear in exposition. It is beautifully inter linked, (and it is in a language that) makes the meanings eloquently clear. It is very useful for a people who have knowledge.
It is a bearer of good tidings and a warner, yet most of these (people) turn away (from it) because they do not (even) give (it) ear.
And they say, `Our hearts are (fortified) within a covering against that (Book) towards which you call us. We are deaf in the ear and there exists a barrier between us and you. So carry on your work (according to your creed) and surely we are the workers (in accordance with our own doctrines).´
Say, `I am but a human being like yourselves (with the only difference that) it is revealed to me that your God is One God, so stick to the straight path (leading) to Him and ask for His protection.´ And woe be to the polytheists;
Those who do not present the Zakât (- purifying dues) and who are disbelievers in the Hereafter also.
(On the contrary) those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, there awaits them a reward never to be cut off.
Say, `Would you really disbelieve in Him Who created the earth in two aeons? And do you set up compeers with Him?´ He alone is the Lord of the worlds.
He placed therein (- in the earth) firm mountains rising above (its surface) and showered it with His blessings and placed in it various provisions according to a set measure, (provisions to which) all those who require them have equal rights, (and all this He created) in four aeons.
Again, He directed Himself towards the space. Behold! it was (like) a mass of gas. (The Almighty God) said to it (- the space) and to the earth, `Come both of you (in obedience to Me) willingly or unwillingly.´ They said, `We obey you with all our will.´
So He ordained them seven heavens in two aeons and assigned to each (heaven) its (relevant) function. And We decked the nearest heaven with lamps (- shining stars for light) and made it to guard. Such is the decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing.
But if even now they turn away then say, `I have warned you of a scourge which will be like the scourge (that befell the people) of `âd and Thamûd.´
When the Messengers (of God) came to them (successively) from before them and from behind them (- from all directions with the teaching) `Worship none but Allâh.´ They said, `If Allâh had willed (to send Messengers), He would certainly have sent angels. So we are indeed disbelievers in that (teachings) with which you have been sent.´
As for (the people of) `âd, they behaved arrogantly in the land without any justification and said, `Who is mightier than we?´ Do they not see that Allâh, Who had created them, is Mightier than they? And (not only that they behaved arrogantly) they went on denying Our Messages persistently.
So We sent upon them a furious wind for several (of their) ominous days in order to make them suffer a punishment of humiliation in this life, and the punishment which awaits them in the Hereafter will surely be more humiliating, and against which they will not be helped.
As for (the tribe of) Thamûd, We gave them guidance, but they preferred misguidance to guidance so the scourge of a humiliating punishment seized them on account of the (bad) deeds they had done.
Yet We delivered those who believed and guarded against evil.
Beware of the day when the enemies of Allâh will be resurrected (and) driven towards the Fire; while they will be formed into different groups.
Till, when they all reach it (- the Hell) their hearing and their eyes and their skins will be (testifying to and) bearing witness against them as to their (mis)deeds.
And they will say to their skins, `Why did you bear witness against us?´ They will reply, `Allâh made us speak as He had given speech to everything else. And (disbelievers!) it is He Who created you the first time and to Him you have been brought back.
`And (while committing sinful acts) you could not hide yourselves from the fact that neither your (own) hearing, nor your own eyes, nor your own skins should bear witness against you. As a matter of fact you had assumed that (even) Allâh did not know much of what you used to do,
`And it was this (very wrong) belief of yours which you hold about your Lord that has ruined you, so that you have now become of the losers.´
Now, if (in this state of theirs) they show patience (even then) the Fire is their resort. And if they ask to be allowed to approach the threshold (of God´s Throne) they will not be of those who are allowed to approach the threshold (to seek His forgiveness and mercy).
And We had assigned to them certain companions who made (the sinful acts) which were being committed in their presence, and those which had been done behind them (in their past), seem fair and attractive to them. The verdict (of punishment) stands confirmed against them as it did in the case of the sinful communities of jinn (- fiery and houghty natured) and (ordinary) people who had passed away before them. As a matter of fact they all were losers.
And those who took to disbelief say, `Do not listen to this Qur´ân, but (when it is recited) interrupt it by making noise so that you may gain the upper hand.´
We shall most surely make those who disbelieve meet with severe punishment and we shall certainly recompense them for the worst what they did.
Such is the punishment of the enemies of Allâh. It is the Fire. They shall find in it a long-lasting home. (The punishment is) a recompense of their persistently denying of Our Messages.
(There) the disbelievers will say, `Our Lord! show us those (two sets of people) who led us astray from among both the jinn (- houghty) and (ordinary) people that we may trample them under our feet with the result that they become of the most abased and humiliated ones.´
Verily, those who say, `Allâh is our Lord,´ and then remain steadfast (and follow the straight path), the angels will descend upon them (saying), `Have no fear nor grieve rather rejoice at the glad tidings of receiving the Gardens (of Paradise) which you have been promised.
`We are your Patron in the present life and in the Hereafter and you shall find in that (Paradise) all that you desire and you shall have therein all that you ask for,
`By way of hospitality and reward from the Great Protector, Ever Merciful (God).´
And who speaks more fair than the person who calls people towards Allâh and (accordingly) does what is right and says, `I am invariably of those who submit (before God).´
And good and evil are not alike. Repel (evil) with that (benign and graceful way) which is best, and lo, the person between whom and you there is enmity will behave as if he were your warm-hearted friend.
Yet it is only the steadfast and patiently persevering who are allowed this (grace) and it is only those who possess a large share of good who are allowed this (moral standard).
Should some sort of trouble from satan vex you, seek refuge in Allâh. For surely He, only He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing.
And the night and the day, and the sun and the moon are some of His signs. Pay no homage to the sun or the moon, rather pay homage to Allâh Who created them, if it is Him Whom you really worship.
If they wax too proud (to prostrate before Him let them know that) those who are the near ones of your Lord glorify Him night and day and they never grow weary (of it). (Prostration)
And it is (one) of His signs that the earth that looks to you desolate stirs up (with life) and swells (producing herbage) when We shower rain water on it. Verily, He (the Almighty Lord) Who gives it life will surely raise the dead to life (as well). Verily, He is the Possessor of power over every desired thing.
Surely, those who follow crooked ways regarding Our teachings, are not hidden from Us. (You can judge for yourselves) whether he who is cast into the Fire better or he who comes on the Day of Resurrection in peaceful security. (Now after this clarification you are free to) do what you will but (remember) He keeps a keen watch over all that you do.
Those who disbelieve in the Reminder (- the Qur´ân) when it comes to them, while it is truly an invincible Book (they will meet the fate of the lost ones).
Falsehood cannot approach it (- the Qur´ân) neither from the front nor from behind. (It is) a revelation that proceeds portion by portion from One All-Wise, the Most Praiseworthy (God).
Nothing is said (in the form of objection) to you what was not already said to the Messengers before you. Verily, your Lord is Master of Protection (for the believers) and (also) Master of woeful retribution (for the disbelievers).
Had We made it a Qur´ân in indistinct and inexpressive language, these (faultfinders) would have surely said, `Why has not (the subject matter of) its verses been made clear in exposition?´ What! can indistinct and inexpressive language and an eloquently clear language (be one and the same thing). Say, `It is a wonderful guidance and healing to those who believe.´ But (as to those) who do not believe there is deafness in their ears and this (Qur´ân) is obscure to them (with regard to its factual truth). And they are (as if to say) being called to from a place afar.
And indeed We gave Moses the Scripture but (when the followers of the Scripture began tampering with it) differences arose about it. Had it not been a word (of promise) already made by your Lord the judgment (between them the disbelievers) would have been passed long ago (by the destruction of those who dispute about the prophecy). And they are in disquieting and grave doubt concerning this (- the fulfillment of the prophecy).
He that does right, does it for the good of his own soul, and he that does evil, it shall recoil on him. And your Lord is the least unjust to (His) servants.
He alone is accredited to have knowledge of the (promised) Hour. And no fruit come forth from their sheaths, nor does any female conceive nor does she give birth (to a being), but (every thing takes place) according to His knowledge. The day when He will call out to them (the polytheists, saying), `Where are My partners (you associated with Me)?´ They will say, `We declare before You, none of us is a confessor (now that they are Your partners).´
(Not only that) those (false gods) whom they called upon (in their worship) before that, will be lost to them, they will know for certain that they have no place of escape.
A person does not grow weary of praying for good but if evil befalls him, he becomes despondent, despaired of all hope.
Yet if We show him mercy from Ourselves after he has suffered affliction, he will surely say, `This is my due. I do not believe that the (promised) Hour will (ever) come (to be established). And if I am (at all) brought back to my Lord, I shall of course, have with Him the very best (of all the goodly things). Yet (on the Day of Requital) We will surely tell those who disbelieve plainly all that they did, and accordingly We will make them suffer a terrible punishment.
And when We bestow a favour on a person he turns aside (ungratefully) and behaves with pride. But when evil befalls him, he is full of lengthy supplications and prayers.
Say, `Have you ever considered that if it (- the Qur´ân) be from Allâh and yet you disbelieve in it, who is steeped in greater error than the one who has gone far in opposition (to Him and His Qur´ân)?´
We shall soon show these (disbelievers for their guidance) Our signs even in the remotest regions (of the earth) and in their own persons until it becomes quite manifest to them that this (Qur´ân) is the lasting truth infact. Is it not enough (for them) that your Lord indeed keeps watch over everything?
Look! they are in disquieting and grave doubt about the meeting with their Lord. Beware! He certainly encompasses every thing (in His Knowledge and power).